Consumer confidence in Taiwan down for sixth month

Taiwan consumers have showed lower expectation about consumer prices, future income and investment as well as employment opportunities for the sixth-consecutive month in October, said a survey publicized Tuesday.

The consumer confidence index, based on a monthly survey by the "National Central University", dropped by 0.72 to 84.6 points in October from last month, said a report from the university's Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development.

The index has continued to fall since May due to febrile growth in the local economy. The island's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.64 percent in the second quarter this year, year on year, far below the official projection of 3.05 percent.

The index consists of six indicators to reflect what people think about the economy over the next six months, reflecting expectations of consumer prices, stock market investment, employment, family income, local economic climate and purchase of durable goods.

All six indicators dropped this month, with the steepest decline seen with consumer prices and the least reduction posted for the local economic climate, the report said.

Also, according to the research design, an indicator's score ranging between 0 and 100 indicates pessimism while scores between 100 and 200 indicates optimism.

Thus, residents remained confident about their employment prospects and ability to buy durable goods, with these indicators at 112.6 and 102.05, while the remainder were all below 100.

The survey was conducted between Oct. 19 and Oct. 23 with 2,454 valid questionnaires. Endi