Colombia: Consumer confidence improves markedly in December but remains in pessimistic territory
The Fedesarrollo consumer confidence index rose markedly from minus 10.0 points in November to minus 6.0 points in December, which marks the best result since November 2016. The indicator still sits below the zero-point threshold that separates optimism among consumers from pessimism, however, where it has been since January 2016.
December’s less pessimistic consumer sentiment was underpinned by vastly improved perceptions among households regarding their current personal financial situation compared to a year ago, which swung into positive territory for the first time in two years. Consumers were also more upbeat about their future personal economic situation and the general economic situation in the next 12 months. The gains made in these sub-components more than offset a households’ substantially lower propensity to purchase big-ticket items, which plummeted by more than half of November’s value.