‘Indian consumers most optimistic in Asia Pacific’

Notwithstanding demonetisation, Indian consumers are the most optimistic in the Asia Pacific region and their outlook on economy and stock market showed highest levels of confidence, says a report. Consumers in India remain extremely optimistic in their outlook for the next six months, said Mastercard Index of Consumer Confidence (H2 2016) released on Monday.

Despite recording a slight dip of 2.4 points in the overall consumer confidence to 95.3 points, India topped the Asia Pacific region as the most optimistic market. Consumers in India are 'extremely optimistic' about all five components measured in the index, with their outlook on the economy (96.3) and stock market (96.2) showing the highest levels of confidence. Besides India, Myanmar (92.8), Vietnam (92.3) and Philippines (91.6) also remained extremely optimistic in their outlook.

Across Asia Pacific, Bangladesh (82.8, gain of 11.2), Hong Kong (42.2, gain of 10.1) and Thailand (68.3, gain of 10.1) saw more than 10 point improvements while Taiwan (34.2) and Malaysia (31.2) saw more than 10 point decreases.