Distrust in the economic situation remains

although Panama Consumer Confidence Index increased by 8 points, levels of distrust in the economic situation remain.

The research he conducted Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Panama (CCIAP)in a strategic alliance with The Marketing Group, shows that the measurement for the month of March 2023 recorded 94 points, with an increase of 8 points, compared to the measurement for the month of January 2023, which reached 86 points.

President of Marketing Group, Domingo E. Barrios W.he pointed out that “the results of the Confidence Index still show that we are at levels of distrust, but in this measurement all the indicators that make up the index are growing again, mostly due to the improvement in the perception of the economic situation of the country and home in the future.

This new measurement shows that expectations about the likelihood of saving money remain in the levels of distrustwith a result of 78 points, with an increase of 13 points compared to the measurement from January 2023, which was 65 points.

The perception of unemployment records an index of 84 points, 1 point above the previous measurement, still at the same level levels of distrust. For the measurement in March 2023, the perception is still with some uncertainty, as 29% do not know if they will be able to get a job, 11% think they will not have a job, 18% think they are unlikely to get one, while 18% think that is very likely that they have one, and 24% believe that it is very likely that they have a job.

The study shows that consumer expectations are about economic situation of their households has a positive perception, for the second period in a row. This indicator recorded 106 points, i.e. an increase of 6 points compared to January 2023.

On the other hand, the indicator about the prospects for economic situation The general indicator of the country for the next 12 months was 107 points, which is equivalent to an increase of 13 points, when compared to January 2023, the indicator entered confidence levels, representing a positive perception of the economy in the future.

The Panamanian Index of Consumer Confidence (ICCP) National Survey), which was developed in Panama by the pollster The Marketing Group, in collaboration with CCIAP, is a measure of consumer confidence that aims to measure their perception of the current and future economic situation in the country, as well as the living conditions of citizens.

This index was developed internationally multinational company TMG and it is adapted to the methodology of the University of Michigan, which is applied in the vast majority of countries on the continent.

The CCIAP This index has been presented since March 2001 at the metropolitan level and serves as a reference and history for this new national index (measured in March 2020).

Function of Marketing Groupincludes the publication of this study on the TMG and CCIAP websites, as a contribution to all members of the Panamanian society.

The TMG methodology considers four indicators that participate in the measurement:

• At home for the next 12 months
• Earth next 12 months
• Unemployment next 12 months
• Savings for the next 12 months

To calculate, percentage of “positive” and “negative” responses for each question. The percentage of negative responses is subtracted from the percentage of positive responses, and a value of 100 is added to the total. This is to avoid negative numbers. This would happen when the percentage of negative responses is greater than the percentage of positive responses.