The Lebanese Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) increased by 29%

Beirut, Lebanon: The Lebanese Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) published by ARA for Research and Consulting increased by 29% from last month to settle at 85 points in November. This improvement was mainly driven by the recovery of the security sub-index which increased by 36 points to close at 120.

The consensus is that the President’s active role in pacifying political disputes coupled with visits from high profile figures to the country have led people to feel a greater amount of security. As for the confidence in the economy, people feel that the current situation has not been improving noting that various political and economic figures quoted growth between 1-2% for this year.

However, people’s economic outlook is more positive as the economic expectation sub-index rose by 16 points to close at 62. Both current and expected personal income indices also increased by 26 and 17 points respectively in hopes of a fruitful end to the 14-week demand of public sector wage hikes.

Finally, the purchases of durables index increased by 20 points with people’s spending patterns increasing as we approach the end of year holidays. Even though the index has improved considerably from last month, it still registered a 38% drop in comparison to last year’s November.

Source: Blom Bank, Economic Department