Consumer Confidence Survey: Expectations aiding decision-making

SBP governor says surveys go a long way in helping policymakers.

KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Ashraf Mahmood Wathra said on Friday that consumer confidence and inflation expectations show the confidence of households in the economy that, in turn, reflects the state of the economy.

Speaking at the agreement signing ceremony for the SBP-IBA Consumer Confidence Survey, the governor said expectations about inflation, interest rate, stock prices and employment are important for policy formulation. This explains why many developed and developing countries are using consumer surveys for policymaking and research purposes, he said.

The SBP inaugurated the Centre for Survey Research (CSR) in January 2012 in collaboration with the IBA.



It was followed by the launch in January 2014 of a dynamic web portal on the SBP’s website that contains necessary information on the survey and the latest data.

Teams from the IBA and the SBP meet every other month to collect data on households’ views about various economic propositions.

The governor also acknowledged the help extended in understanding inflation by the development of the Administered Price Index (API).

Meanwhile, Dr Ishrat Husain, IBA director, said project completion in Pakistan was a “novelty” due to the general lack of know-how about successful implementation of projects.

He said that this project is also a good example of an educational institution meeting demands of a policy-making organisation, which is too often busy in operational tasks.

He said consumer confidence index is a useful tool for forward-looking monetary policy decisions.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3^rd, 2015.

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