Consumer confidence improves in Q1

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Consumer confidence improved in the first quarter due to a favorable job and investment outlook, the central bank said today.

Results of the latest Consumer Expectations Survey showed that overall confidence index settled at -18.8 percent during the period, better than the -21.3 percent recorded in the last quarter of 2013.

"(Consumers) attributed their favorable outlook to the availability of more jobs, increase in the number of employed family members, more investment prospects, higher income, stronger business activity, and good harvests," Rosabel B. Guerrero, director for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Department of Economic Statistics, said in a briefing.

The BSP noted that Filipino consumers were as upbeat as consumers in Germany, Indonesia, South Korea, and China's Taiwan.

The overall consumer confidence is measured using three indicators - economic conditions of the country, family financial situation and family income.