Consumer confidence shows further drop

Anxieties caused by the Knesset election results and the ongoing global economic crisis saw the Consumer Confidence Index fall slightly in February 2009 by half a point to 62.8 points. This followed a plunge of 7.2 points in January. The Consumer Confidence Index has reached a five year low.

The Consumer Confidence Index, compiled by Globes Research and Kesselman and Kesselman - PricewaterhouseCoopers Israel, showed that the public is prepared to give the new government a grace period in handling the economic crisis and is awaiting its first economic policy steps to assess whether the new government can cope with the crisis.

Most of the pessimism reflected in the CCI deals with the public's concerns about the current state of the economy where confidence resembles levels reminiscent of the recession in 2001-03. The survey, carried out by the Smith Institute, showed that 73% of respondents defined the economic situation as bad, compared with only 46.5% in February 2008.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 4, 2009

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