Consumers lose confidence

Another reason why confidence could have risen further during 2Q2010, is that the prime rate was reduced by a further half a percentage point since the previous survey. However, after surging from +6 in 4Q2009 to +15 in 1Q2010, the CCI remained virtually unchanged at +14 in 2Q2010.

The fact that consumer confidence held steady during 2Q2010 indicates that these positive factors were to some extent countered by negative ones.

Negative factors

During 2Q2010, slightly fewer consumers expect an improvement in their own finances over the next 12 months compared to 1Q2010.

Virtually unchanged were the consumers rating the present as the wrong time to buy durable goods (such as furniture, appliances and electronic goods).

However, slightly more consumers than previously expect the economic performance to improve over the next 12 months, in answer to the third question making up the CCI.

"Overall consumer confidence thus remained more or less steady as consumers' somewhat more pessimistic views on their own finances were balanced by slightly more optimistic views about the economy," said Cees Bruggemans, chief economist of FNB.

Detailed responses

• Bleak employment prospects most likely undermined some consumers' expectations about improvements in their own finances.
  
• It is noteworthy that as in 1Q2010, only a small majority of consumers overall continued to rate the present as the wrong time to buy durable goods. However, also noteworthy, a far more negative sentiment on this score was still noticeably in certain important consumer segments, despite the nominal interest rate being at a 30-year low and the price increases of durable goods remained subdued thanks to the strong rand.
  
• The hesitancy of consumers to purchase big items and to commit themselves to more debt no longer appears to be only the result of tight bank lending standards, but rather reflects a relatively deep lingering uncertainty following the many global crises and shocks of recent years and a consequent ongoing willingness to reduce still very high outstanding debt levels.
  
• A closer inspection of the results on the expected economic performance question indicates that the rise stems largely from consumers earning less than R2000 per month. In their case, World Cup fever probably overshadowed any negative factors. The expectations of the middle-income earners (earning between R2000 - R10 000) about the economy increased to a smaller extent and those of high-income earners (earning in excess of R10 000) remained unchanged compared to 1Q2010.

Other factors in consumer confidence

• Renewed uncertainty in international financial markets due to primarily the dire fiscal situation of some European countries causing sharp falls in share prices and fluctuations in the rand exchange rate
  
• The net impact of political developments in South Africa is hard to gauge, yet may have an influence in shaping consumer confidence.
  
• The fact that the FNB/BER CCI remained almost steady during 2Q2010 is in part attributed to a correction from the previous overly elevated level. In the past, confidence often pulled back after a particularly large increase between two consecutive quarters, as again happened during 1Q2010 when confidence increased by a particularly large 9 index points.

Bruggemans said, "Although consumer expectations about the economic outlook and own financial prospects remain very positive, there also lingers an apparently deep unwillingness in important consumer segments to buy consumer durables at this time and to incur the associated debt".

"Also, consumers' overall high confidence and consequently high willingness to spend is unlikely to translate to bigger rises in actual spending until households' ability to spend improves more pronouncedly". This requires, among other things, a recovery in employment to boost income and a rebalancing of household balance sheets to stimulate credit spending.

The report's conclusion is that the 2Q2010 results indicate that the FNB/BER CCI took a breather. It would probably have declined were it not for the World Cup.