The end of the electoral period and the beginning of the new government slightly reduced the perception of uncertainty among Colombians, and this was shown by the consumer confidence indicator (CCI) measured by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (Dane).
(Dane consumer confidence improved in August: it reached 35.7).
In its ‘Social Pulse’ survey for the month of August, the entity announced that the ICC showed an advance of almost 1.0 percentage point in relation to the previous month, and stood at 35.7 percentage points (pps). “This indicator continues to be located in the pessimism quadrant, however, we see a relative improvement compared to the performance that the indicator was showing in July 2022, when it stood at 34.8 points”, assured Julieth Solano, deputy director general of the Dane.
Among the elements that helped to consolidate a more positive outlook in terms of confidence, the prospects for the future of households stand out in particular.
The evaluation of the families in relation to their situation within a year was one of the components of the ICC, which showed a significant improvement, with a level of 48.3 pps, increased its valuation by 1.7 pps.
(Why consumer confidence has improved.)
Precisely, among future perspectives, although 42.6% of household heads think that their situation will remain the same, 29% believe that their situation will improve, while 28.4% have a negative perspective on their future.
The valuation made by households within the following 12 months also showed an advance, and stood at 45.7 pps, an increase of 2.8 pps compared to the 42.9 pps that it presented in July 2022.
Compared to the vision of the country, for 33.5% of households it will remain the same a year from now, for 29.5% it will improve, but for 37% it will worsen.
“Consumer confidence is precisely what makes consumers improve their expectations or not, and there are a series of elements that impact it, such as a new electoral period. The beginning of a government always generates expectations, and to the extent that they materialize or not, it can tune in to what people want, and to that extent their expectations improve”assured Carlos Sepúlveda, Dean of Economics at the Universidad del Rosario.
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However, the academic reiterated that this is not the only issue that affects trust.
Despite this, the Social Pulse survey also showed that, when asking citizens if they consider that during the next 12 months they will have (or any of the members of their household) available to go on vacation, only 12.8% assured that Yes.
And although only 11.9% of household heads responded to the survey that they currently have the possibility of saving some part of their income19.9% stated that their economic conditions to save within 12 months will be better than the current ones.
In addition, only 4.8% of people said that they or a family member is planning to buy a car in the next two years.
The Social Pulse survey asked Colombians, in their opinion, how easy they consider access to some services or opportunities to be for people in general. Job opportunities and access to justice appear as the two elements in which people perceive more barriers.
For eight out of ten citizens, access to job opportunities is difficult in Colombia. For 56.4% it is ‘very difficult’ to access it, and 22.3% classified it as ‘difficult’. For 17.4% it is neither easy nor difficult, only for 3.3% it is easy, and only 0.6% say that job opportunities are ‘easy’.
(Rate option: an alternative to lower electricity prices).
In relation to access to justice, 55.4% stated that it is “very difficult” and 25.2% that it is “difficult”.
In addition to these elements, others for which citizens consider that it is really difficult to access are the health system, where 37.8% affirm that it is “very difficult”; educational opportunities, with an indicator at this level of 14.8% of people, and public services, which for 10.7% also have access complexity.
LAURA LUCIA BECERRA ELEJALDE
