MANILA - Local consumer confidence improved in the 3 months ending September as the economy begins to show signs of recovery from the global crisis.

The overall consumer confidence index (CI) for the third quarter increased slightly to -31.9% from -34.2% recorded in the previous quarter, data from the central bank's Consumer Expectations Survey (CES) showed. From July to September 2008, the CI was at -52.8%.

The index reflects the difference between the percentage of respondents with positive and negative views. A negative index means more respondents are pessimistic.

"The outlook of consumers nationwide improved in the third quarter of 2009, buoyed by recent news indicating global economic conditions and stronger domestic macroeconomic fundamentals, (specifically) declining inflation, easing interest rates, and the relatively stable peso," the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said in a statement released Thursday.

The BSP said nationwide consumer expectations for the fourth quarter and the next 12 months were also better compared to both periods last year. For the next 3 months, the CI stood at -3.7% from last year's -25.1%. Similarly, the index for the next 12 months at -0.9% was better than -23.9% in 2008.

The high-income group was most upbeat about their own financial condition in the third quarter, with a CIs for family income and family financial situation at 26.6% and 14.8%, respectively. The BSP said this is the highest since the CES was first conducted in the first conducted in the first quarter of 2007.

Respondents from the middle-income group turned bullish about their income expectations during the 3-month period, with the CI at 2.5% from last year's -12.8%. Meanwhile, the BSP said consumer confidence in the low-income group was broadly unchanged quarter-on-quarter but was more favorable year-on-year.

Still buying

While the outlook for the rest of the year remains pessimistic, consumers still intend to buy assets like cars and homes. The index for households' buying intentions increased to 9.5% in the third quarter, higher than 7.5% in the second quarter and 6% from July to September last year.

Buying conditions were seen favorable during the period, with a CI of 18% from 15.8% in the previous quarter. The BSP said this was driven mainly by optimistic sentiments of consumers on buying conditions for big-ticket items such as houses, which increased to 24.4% from 20% in the second quarter.

"Among the reasons cited by respondents who considered buying conditions to be favorable in Q3 2009 were that these purchases were good investments and were affordable," the BSP said.

Households nationwide expect a rise in expenditures on basic goods and services during the third quarter with a CI of 44.4%. However, fewer respondents are expecting this to go further up during the fourth quarter (43.4%) as prices of basic goods are seen to stabilize in the next 12 months.