Turkey Consumer Confidence Index March 2008

Turkey's Consumer Confidence Index declined by 6.44 points in March, compared to the previous month, according to the Ankara-based Turkish Statistics Institute (Turkstat). This decline seems to confirms consumers' uneasiness over the current economic outlook. The monthly Consumer Tendency Survey, carried out with the cooperation of the TÜİK and the Central Bank, evaluates consumer behaviour and expectations for general outlook, job opportunities, personal financial standing and market developments. The index indicates an optimistic outlook when it is above 100, and a pessimistic one when it is below 100. Basically we are now at very low levels.




The index, which was 87.60 in February, declined to 81.96 in March, according to Turkstat data. The decrease derived from the deterioration in consumers' assessments concerning their purchasing power at present and in the next period, the general economic situation and job opportunities in the next period.

In terms of the sub-indices and percentage change, purchasing power index for the current period declined from 77.68 to 74.47 while purchasing power for the next period was down from 84.37 to 79.36 in March. The index of economic situation and job opportunities for the next period deteriorated from 81.83 to 74.93 and from 81.99 to 77.47 respectively last month, compared to February. Over the period, the index that indicates the appropriateness of the current period for purchase of durable goods fell from 112.14 to 103.58