“Pessimistic” Barbadian consumers are feeling the strain of higher expenses, lower savings and stagnant income levels.
While expectations were high following the May 24 General Election, Barbados-based surveillance and forecasting firm Antilles Economics suggested already low consumer confidence would be tested by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-sponsored economic recovery programme.
Antilles Economics recently released the findings of its Snapshot of Consumer Confidence 2018 survey, conducted “around the time of the general election”.
Managing director Stacia Howard said the company examined Barbadian consumer’s perceptions of economic conditions in May and found “respondents were pessimistic about their households’ current conditions, with 45 per cent saying that their household’s situation was worse today than one year ago”.
(SC)
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