PAKISTAN’S politics might be baffling and its macroeconomic data disturbing, but these have failed to dampen the spirits of consumers.
Little wonder that not so affluent Pakistan tops the list of countries with the highest consumer confidence. The trend is endorsed by the findings of US companies Deloitte and Nielsen, besides scores of local researchers. The State Bank’s Consumer Confidence Index also points in the same direction.
While the informal economy is said to be fueling the hyper-market activity by supplementing incomes generated in the formal sector, it is media and the power of connectivity through telephony that is altering the lifestyle aspirations of about 40m households in the country.
In its latest report, Nielsen, a provider of information and insight into consumer markets, reported online consumer confidence held steady in the second quarter of calendar year 2014.
“Pakistani consumers are generally optimistic as seen by mostly high consumer confidence scores over the past three years. However, a score of 99 in the first as well as second quarter this year is the highest we’ve seen since the second quarter of 2011,” said Mustafa Moosajee, MD Nielsen Pakistan.
