By IANS,
New Delhi: Consumer confidence in India is on an upswing with the country ranking second, next only to Indonesia, in the Global Confidence Survey conducted by market tracker AC Nielsen during the second quarter this year.
In a report released Tuesday, Nielsen said India registered a 13-point rise in its confidence survey, reflecting hopes of early revival of its economy.
“Globally consumer sentiments are positive, with the Global Consumer Confidence Index, rising to 82 – an increase of five points (from 77) from March,” it said.
“This has been spurred by renewed consumer optimism and stock market gains in BRIC markets (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) and key Asian countries,” Nielsen said.
According to the survey’s findings, 66 percent of Indians polled said they were optimistic that the country would be out of the slowdown in the next 12 months.
In the survey that covered 14,029 online consumers in 281 countries, 62 percent of Indians thought their country was in recession – a positive reduction of 10 points from 72 percent when the survey ran in March.
“This is the highest percentage for any country globally that thinks recession would be over in the next 12 months. A little less than half (38 percent) think that India is not currently facing an economic recession (third highest globally),” says Vatsala Pant, associate director of consumer research at Nielsen.
“The recent elections in India have had a positive effect on Indians’ sentiments towards its economy. With the UPA government back in power for the second term, consumers are more confident that political and policy continuity will help recover the Indian economy,” Nielsen said.
It also said Indian stock markets saw a rise soon after the elections, reflecting the all-round confidence of Indians in the economy and their belief that the country would come out of the downturn.