India no. 2 in 'most-confident' list
Indians have emerged as the second most confident people about their economy, across the world, on account of higher consumption and increased foreign investment, according to a report by research firm Ipsos.
The report said that India's economic confidence grew by 6 points to 75 per cent in the month of October compared to the previous month, becoming the second most economically confident country after Saudi Arabia.
"The Indian economy has been well insulated from global economic conditions as it has been fueled by domestic consumption and the increased FDI into the country. Our economy has remained steady at a robust 8.1 per cent and this positive consumer sentiment is seen reflected in our survey," Ipsos India Managing Director Mick Gordon said.
The report, which examined citizens' assessment of the current state of their country's economy, said that the overall global average economic confidence was down by one point to 38 per cent last month.
In terms of gains, two countries-- India and South Africa-- gained maximum economic confidence by five points and six points, respectively.
Individually, Saudi Arabia experienced a six-point drop to 83 per cent but continued to hold its pole position, followed by India (75 per cent), Sweden (69 per cent), Canada (66 per cent ) and China (65 per cent).
The countries at the bottom of the heap were – Hungary which lost two points and was at 2 per cent, Spain gained 2 points but was low at 5 per cent, Japan further lost two points to stood at 6 per cent, France lost 1point and was at 6 per cent and Italy was unchanged at 8 per cent.
The global aggregate national assessment was dragged by Europe, which was down 2 points to 24 per cent), North America (40 per cent).
In fact, all the regions have reported declining national economic assessments ¿ the Middle East and Africa was down 2 points to 60 per cent, Asia Pacific dropped by 1 points to 41 per cent. However, Latin America experienced no change in October and stood at 46 per cent.
Looking ahead, 24 per cent global citizens surveyed said their local economy would be stronger six months from now, which was unchanged since August 2011.
The natives of Brazil are the quite optimistic about about the state of their economy in the next six months, followed by India and Saudi Arabia.
The survey was conducted in October among 18,682 people in 24 countries such as Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the US.
SOURCE: financialtimes.com
