OREANDA-NEWS. April 19, 2012. Insignificant improvement of consumer confidence of Ukrainians was observed in March. The March consumer confidence index (CCI) is 77.6 which is 0.9 p. higher than in February. Noticeably better expectations concerning changes in economic conditions in the country over the next year were compensated by deterioration of Ukrainians’ confidence concerning willingness to purchase and expected changes in economic conditions over the next five years. This is proved by the consumer confidence survey in Ukraine, conducted by GfK Ukraine on a monthly basis.

In March 2012 the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) grew by 0.9 p. to 77.6.

Index of Current Situation decreased by 1.2 p. to 73.7. The components of this index changed in the following way:

Index of Current Personal Financial Standing (x1) lost 0.9 p. and reached 74;
Propensity to Consume (х5) fell by 1.6 p. to 73.5.
Economic Expectations of the population increased by 2.3 p. to 80.1. The components of this index changed as follows:
Index of Expected Changes in Personal Financial Standing (х2) improved by 1.1 to 89.3;
Index of Expected Economic Conditions in the Country Over the Next Year (х3) grew by 7.9 to 75.4;
Index of Expected Economic Conditions in the Country Over the Next Five Years (х4) dropped by 1.9 p. to 75.6.
At the same time, better expectations regarding changes in unemployment were observed in March: the respective index is 131.7 which is 3 p. lower than the index value in February. Moreover, insignificant negative dynamics in inflationary expectations were observed: index value increased by 0.6 p. to 187.4. The index of devaluationary expectations of Ukrainians increased by 3.9 p. and stopped on the level of 125.


The following key trends were observed in March:
In March, the consumer confidence has not changed significantly concerning the index observed in February. Noticeably better expectations relative to changes in economic conditions in the country over the next year were compensated by deterioration of Ukrainians’ confidence concerning willingness to purchase and expected changes in economic conditions over the next five years. Along with the improvement of near-term economic expectations the expectations regarding changes in unemployment decreased. At the same time, the devaluationary expectations have grown in some way.
The most significant improvement of the consumer confidence was observed in the Western Ukraine and Kyiv, while the index dropped in the Northern and Central regions. Respectively, the consumer confidence grew among country population, while it decreased in small towns.
"So long as today there are neither positive nor negative changes in economics, the consumer confidence stabilized on the moderately low level which is defined by the weak trust to authorities. The authorities’ desire for securing the economic stability by any means by the parliamentary elections will also determine the consumer confidence further dynamics", - as the GfK Ukraine analysts comment.