Consumer confidence tumbles in October, hints at slowdown

ANKARA- Hürriyet Daily News

Turkey’s consumer confidence index toppled down by 4.2 percent to 89.7 percent in October from 93.7 percent in September, according to data by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) and the Central Bank.

The index thus hit the lowest level of the past 11 months.

Economic slowdown ahead

“The erosion in consumer confidence hints that further slowdown in economic activity is ahead. Nevertheless, we should highlight that in the 2009 global financial crisis, the consumer confidence index in Turkey was below 70. So slowdown is ahead, but it is not in the form of a recession yet,” Özgür Altuğ, chief economist of BGC Partners-Turkey said in a short note to investors yesterday.

The fall in consumer confidence index derives from the worsening of expectations regarding existing and future purchasing power, future economic situation, future employment opportunities and the current period’s consumption of durables.

The index values, estimated by the results of the Monthly Consumer Trends Survey, may range from zero to 200. Values of the index above 100 generally indicate optimistic consumer confidence whereas those below 100 indicate pessimism in consumer confidence