Oct 2009 Financial News

Return of 'feel good' spending. Consumers more optimistic.

Oct 26, 2009

Spending is increasing, deposits are secure, prices are stabilising and people are smiling again.

If the financial indicators are a valid sign, then it would be safe to say that local consumers are once again feeling good about local financial institutions and the local economy, financial stakeholders say.

For the year so far, the Unit Trust Corporation has reported that more than 15,000 new customers have joined the financial corporation and are investing with the company.

Executive director Marlon Holder has said, "The growth in our customer base speaks to the continued confidence investors have in our products and our team."

Several other financial institutions have reported seeing increases in deposits despite the current financial crisis which has enveloped the whole world.

Earlier this year, Republic Bank managing director David Dulal-Whiteway had reported that (right in the wake of the CL Financial debacle) he was seeing a recovery of much of the withdrawals the bank had lost since Government took control of several subsidiary companies of the CL Financial conglomerate, one of them being Republic. This showed that Republic Bank savers had started to regain their confidence in the country's largest commercial bank.

Economists have said the cuts in the prime lending rate during the second quarter of this financial year have also helped the "feel good" spending factor return and has helped consumers return to the stores.

Also indicative of the new mood among consumers is the steadying inflation rates, which has lent itself to stable grocery bills and happier shoppers.

A brief informal survey in downtown Port of Spain also showed that people were less pessimistic about their job security.

This shows a drastic change from last quarter when head of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA), Gregory Aboud had said that consumers were indeed being cautious and there was a reduction in sales.

This turnaround has also been mimicked on the local stock exchange.

According to Caribbean Money Market Brokers analyst Christine Salloum, the local stock index had surged to 788.89 by the last week in September from a low of 776.06 points on July 23.

All this good news comes just in time for the Christmas season which will see retailers whose sales had taken a hit earlier this year trying to recover some of their losses.


Source:
Aretha Welch
awelch@trinidadexpress.com
Trinidad Express
Monday, October 26th 2009

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161548673