36 pct of surveyed Vietnamese feel "better off" financially in May

Some 36 percent of surveyed Vietnamese said their families are "better off" financially in May compared with last May, according to a report on Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ)-Roy Morgan Vietnam Consumer Confidence on Thursday.

Vietnam's state-run television VTV on Thursday quoted the report as saying that only 18 percent of them said their families are "worse off" financially, the lowest for this indicator since March 2014.

The index of Vietnam Consumer Confidence is unchanged at 140.2 points in May 2015 while remaining well above its long-term average of 135.2 points.

Among the respondents surveyed, some 56 percent of Vietnamese expect their families to be "better off" financially May next year compared with only 5 percent who expect to be "worse off" financially.

In the longer-term, 61 percent of Vietnamese expect Vietnam to have "good times" economically over the next five years compared with just 5 percent expecting "bad times" economically.

Some 47 percent of Vietnamese say now is a "good time to buy" major household items compared with 12 percent who said the opposite.

Glenn Maguire, ANZ chief economist for South Asia, ASEAN and Pacific said in the report that the index of Vietnamese consumer confidence "is holding steady as the economic recovery gains a surer footing."

The expert said that the Vietnamese economy has now bottomed and he foresaw a recovery in 2015 and 2016.

The recovery should create an environment where local households become more confident to spend, further strengthening the recovery in domestic demand, said Maguire, adding that " Vietnam is increasingly emerging as Southeast Asia's most attractive economy." Endi