70% of Lebanese anticipate financial fall but women remain more optimistic

Byblos Bank published on Wednesday, in cooperation with the American University of Beirut AUB, the results of the Byblos Bank/AUB Consumer Confidence Index for the first half of 2015 which showed a decline for January and February and an improvement in March followed by a relapse in April and a slight growth during the months of May and June 2015. The average monthly index scored 37.7 points during the first half of the year, with no visible change from the fourth quarter of last year, 2014; while it grew by 4.3% during the second half of 2015 scoring 39.3 points. As Safir daily reported that despite the improvement noted in the second quarter of the present year, nearly 79.7% of the Lebanese people surveyed considered that their financial situation has worsened compared to the past six months, 4.3% said they noted a growth and 16% of citizens thought their financial status did not change. Senior economics expert and head of the economic research and analysis at Byblos Bank, Nassib Ghobril, warned that above results do not reflect a change in the confidence index of consumers or a fundamental alteration in the view or attitude of Lebanese households, particularly that only 9.7% of respondents anticipated an improvement in their financial situation in the upcoming six months, 69.6% thought their finances would weaken during that period and 18.9% anticipated a no-change situation. Likewise, index results for the first half of 2015 showed the following: females posted relatively higher confidence rates compared to males; consumers within the age group 21-29 years have recorded a higher confidence rate against other age groups; households with near or over USD2500 monthly income had a higher confidence compared to lower income households. Besides, private sector employees reflected higher confidence against state workers, self-employed, jobless persons or housewives during the first half of 2015. (An Nahar, As Safir, 19 & 20 August 2015)