Singaporeans are the most optimistic consumers in the entire
Asia Pacific region, says a global survey by ACNielsen.
The study is on how individuals plan to spend their spare cash next
year.
When it comes to spending spare cash, Singaporeans are the most
upbeat with consumer confidence even higher than in China or Hong
Kong.
This is even though growth is likely to slow to 5 percent next year
after expanding more than 9 percent in the first nine months of
this year.
Bienvenido Niles, President Asia Pacific, ACNielsen, said: "It's a
reflection of the great economic performance in Singapore over the
last year and the expectation from consumers that this will
continue despite the fact that there could be some factors which
will impact the economy, not only in Singapore but other countries
like the price of oil, the rise in interest rates."
Coming in a close second is Hong Kong.
SK Fung, Managing Director, ACNielsen, said: "They're upbeat about
the next 12 months probably because they know deflation is over,
now some inflation is back, but in the case of Hong Kong, it's
still very low single-digit, 0.2 percent compared to a month
ago."
The survey shows that Hong Kong people are most likely to spend
their spare cash on dining out and entertainment, clothes and new
tech gear.
And there is also the increasing trend that Hongkongers are also
spending on bigger ticket items like short holidays and home
improvement.
At the other end of the spectrum, the most pessismistic consumers
in the region are in Japan, Philippines and South Korea. -
CNA