ECONOMYNEXT — Three consumer confidence indices run by an independent polling institute increased to their highest levels since 2021 in June besides remaining at pessimistic levels.
The three indices, generated by the Institute for Health Policy (IHP)’s Sri Lanka Opinion Tracker Survey (SLOTS), showered significant increase for June, the institute said.
Their Index of Consumer Sentiment (ICS), the broadest measure of the public’s view of their personal economic status and the national economy increased 7 points to 36 points. The Index of Consumer Expectations (ICE), which tracks future perceptions also increased 7 points to 40 points, and the Index of Current Conditions (ICC), a measure of perceptions of current conditions, increased 6 points to 30 points.
“This is the highest indices value recorded since late 2021,” the IHP said.
The Current Buying Conditions measure reached a new peak of 29 points in June, indicating an increased demand for purchases, the institute said.
All IHP SLOTS consumer confidence indices range from zero to a potential maximum of 100, with levels below 50 indicating net pessimism.
The CCI estimates are based on 17,179 interviews conducted between October 21, 2021– July 7, 2024, including 447 interviews conducted in June 2024, with sample sizes varying between indices depending on response rates. All estimates are adjusted to
be representative of the national population, including gender, age, ethnicity, and income level, the IHP said.
The SLOTS platform tracks public opinion and wellbeing daily using a large national panel recruited by face-to-face interviews and other randomly dialled respondents, with numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications that use the data.
Explaining its methodology, the IHP said in its statement that SLOTS combines data from a national sample of adults (ages 18 and over) reached by random digit dialling of mobile numbers, and others coming from a national panel of respondents who were previously recruited through random selection. All consumer confidence index estimates are weighted to be representative of the national population, including characteristics such as age, gender, province, sector, socioeconomic status, ethnicity and education, the institute said.
“The SLOTS survey has previously been funded by the Neelan Tiruchelvam Trust, the UK National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), The Asia Foundation in Sri Lanka, and others. Current field work is financed by the IHP Public Interest Research Fund and others. The sponsors play no role in the study design, analysis, or interpretation of findings. Furthermore, the survey findings do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of past and present funders. Interested parties can contact IHP for more detailed data and results.” (Colombo/Jul16/2024)