Pinoys saving money amid economic crisis

Affluent Filipino consumers are holding back on spending because of economic uncertainties they anticipate in the next 12 months caused by the financial turmoil, according to Nielsen Company survey.

In its Consumer Confidence Concerns & Spending Survey First Half 2009, Victoria Santos, managing director of Nielsen Co. (Philippines), said only three out of 10 Filipino consumers think that this was a good time to spend.

The country’s consumer confidence index dropped by 6 points to 96 points in the first half of the year, but ranks high among the countries at sixth place.

The global consumer confidence average is 76 points.

“Although Filipino consumers will remain upbeat, we could see that Filipino consumers are still more prudent and cautious in terms of spending. They recognized that there are still uncertainties up there,” Santos told reporters in a briefing.

Consumers’ appetites for risky investments were also quite low, she added.

Santos said 69 percent of Filipinos’ spare cash were going into savings.

In terms of personal finances, Santos said six out of 10 Filipino consumers felt good about it. “They don’t see a significant drop or deterioration of their personal finances.”

Jobs and the economy

The Nielsen report said Filipinos’ major concern over the next six months was job security, followed by the economy and work-life balance.

The survey showed that 30 percent of the Filipinos were concerned about job security, ranking fourth globally. For the first time in the Nielsen survey, job loss was the global consumers’ top concern, ranking first out of 31 other concerns in all the 50 countries surveyed.

From October to April 15, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported that more than 63,000 Filipinos were laid off. From April 1 to 15 alone, the number of displaced workers was 1,026.

Santos also said that 16 percent of the Filipino respondents were concerned about the economy. “In the Philippines, eight out of 10 consumers feel that we are in a recession.”

The Nielsen report showed that 43 percent of Filipinos expect that the country would not be out of an economic recession in the next 12 months.

Nielsen conducted an online survey of about 500 Filipinos from March 19 to April 12, 2009. The poll has an error margin of plus or minus 4.4 percent. More than 26,000 consumers were interviewed over the Internet in 50 markets worldwide. –Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter, Manila Times