Consumer confidence plunges in June

ANKARA

The consumer confidence index declined by 6.5 percent month-on-month to 85.1 in June, after improving in the two previous months, data have shown.

Any index figure above the 100-mark indicates optimism among consumers.

All main sub-indices in the consumer tendency survey, carried out jointly by the Central Bank and the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), fell in June.

The sub-index measuring households’ assessments of their current economic situation plunged 2.2 percent from May when the gauge was up 2.2 percent monthly.

The index for households’ expectations regarding the financial situation in the next 12 months nosedived 8.8 percent in June after rising 4.7 percent in the previous month.

The index for consumers’ expectations regarding general economic situation, which climbed 5.7 percent in May from April, fell 7.8 percent.

“The index measuring households’ assessments on spending money on durable goods over the next 12 months was down 6.2 percent in June,” said TÜİK.

The Central Bank is expected to increase its key policy rate at the Monetary Policy Committee meeting on June 22. Higher rates will mean higher loan costs for consumers. Consumer spending was one of the main drivers of the 4 percent increase in the country’s GDP in the first quarter of 2023.

The share of final consumption expenditure of households in GDP was 60.2 percent. Household final consumption grew 16.2 percent in the January-March period from a year ago.