The Vietnam consumer confidence index is unchanged at 140.2 in May, well above its long-term average of 135.2, according to research by the ANZ Bank.

In terms of current personal finances, 36 percent (up 1 percentage point) of Vietnamese said their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, compared to just 18 percent (down 1 percentage point) who said their families are ‘worse off’ financially (the lowest for this indicator since March 2014).

Of the respondents surveyed, 56 percent (down 1ppt) expect their families to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year compared to only 5 percent (down 1ppt) who expect to be ‘worse off’ financially.

Fifty-three percent (down 2ppts) of Vietnamese expect the country to have ‘good times’ financially during the next 12 months and 12 percent (up 1ppt) expect ‘bad times’ financially.

In the longer term, 61 percent (down 2ppts) of the respondents expect Vietnam to have ‘good times’ economically over the next five years compared to just 5 percent (unchanged) who expect ‘bad times’.

Forty-seven percent (unchanged) of Vietnamese say it is now a ‘good time to buy’ major household items compared to 12 percent (down 3ppts) who believe now is a ‘bad time to buy’ these items.

Glenn Maguire, ANZ Chief Economist for South Asia, ASEAN & the Pacific, said he foresees the Vietnamese economy enjoying an ongoing recovery for 2015 and 2016. This should create an environment where households become more confident to spend, further strengthening the recovery in domestic demand, he claimed.-VNA