Consumer confidence falls in August

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Vietnam Consumer Confidence Index slid 4.9 points to 133.7 in August over July, caused by weaker sentiment across all components in a monthly survey.

This month's figure was 1.8 points lower than the level recorded a year ago, according to a report published by ANZ Bank on August 26.

Thirty-one percent (down 3 percentage points) of Vietnamese respondents said their families are "better off" financially than at the same time last year – the lowest recorded for the indicator since last November. Twenty-two percent (up 1 percentage point) claimed they were "worse off".

Fifty-eight percent (down 5 percentage points) said they expected their families to be "better off" financially this time next year, while six percent (up 1 percentage point) predicted "worse off".

Forty-six percent (down 4 percentage points) expected Vietnam to have "good times" financially during the next 12 months, the lowest value ever recorded, while 12 percent (down 1 percentage point) expected the country to have "bad times".

Fifty-five percent (down 9 percentage points) of respondents expected the country to have "good times" economically over the next five years – the lowest recorded since May 2014, compared to seven percent (unchanged) who expected "bad times".

Forty percent (unchanged) said "now is a good time to buy" major household items compared to 14 percent (up 2 percentage points) who thought otherwise.

"Vietnam finds itself in remarkable stead, having bucked the regional slump into trade recession, and is the only economy in Asia to post positive export and import growth," said Glenn Maguire, ANZ chief economist in South Asia, ASEAN and the Pacific.

"This is an environment where consumer confidence – certainly pride – should be flourishing. Instead, consumer confidence fell sharply in August," he said.

"From an economic perspective, we can see triggers for a decline, but not a justification for the magnitude of the decline," he added.

Maguire specified that during August, Vietnamese policymakers had resorted to unexpected policy action such as widening the exchange rate band and moving in for a third devaluation. The surprise devaluation of the Chinese yuan earlier this month may have also triggered concerns about loss of Vietnamese competitiveness.-VNA