Singapore consumer confidence inches upwards in December: ANZ-Roy Morgan

Consumer confidence in Singapore has increased in December even though it is still nothing to cheer about.

According to the ANZ-Roy Morgan, Singapore consumer confidence has risen slightly by 0.9 points to 121.8 in December, and is now just above the 2014 average of 121.1 points.

"The Singaporean consumer has found a slight spark to end 2014 on a slightly more optimistic tone, but the granularity of our survey data hardly suggests a rebound in consumer confidence is in the offering. Indeed, consumer confidence has finished a rather ordinary year pretty much sitting close to its average," Glenn Maguire, ANZ chief economist (South Asia, Asean & Pacific), said.

Thinking of economic conditions in Singapore going forward, just under half of respondents (unchanged at 48 per cent) expect Singapore will have 'good times' economically over the next12 months, compared to just 11 per cent (down 2 percentage points) who expect 'bad times' economically.

In terms of personal finances now 27 per cent (unchanged) of respondents say their families are 'better off' financially than a year ago compared to just 11 per cent (down 2 percentage points) that say they are 'worse off' financially.

Now 31 per cent (up 2 percentage points) of respondents say they expect their families will be 'better off' financially in a year's time compared to only 8 per cent (up 1 percentage point) who expect their families will be 'worse off' financially.

Over the longer-term, 45 per cent (unchanged) of respondents now expect Singapore will have 'good times' financially during the next five years and only 9 per cent (down 2 percentage points) expect 'bad times' financially.

At the same time, 17 per cent (down 1 percentage point) of respondents say now is a 'good time to buy' major household items, while 20 per cent (up 2 percentage points) say now is a 'bad time to buy' major household items.