Business Day (Johannesburg)
Kgomotso Mathe
10 July 2009
Johannesburg — CONSUMERS are expecting to tighten their belts even more over the next six months, according to findings of the MasterCard Worldwide survey released in Johannesburg yesterday.
This comes as the effects of the recession spread across different sectors of the economy, with consumers, uncertain about the length and extent of the tough times, watching their spend carefully.
The Consumer Purchasing Priorities survey, released twice yearly, found that 43% of SA's consumers said they would be applying the brakes on discretionary spending.
The survey conducted between March and April, involved 9211 consumers from 21 markets throughout the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa.
Of the 600 people who participated in the survey in SA, 47% said they planned to save more over the next six months and only 29% said they planned to save less than they did in the last six months.
"Because of the current economic slowdown and uncertainties around jobs, South Africans are saying they will be decreasing their discretionary spending," said MasterCard Africa's vice-president for commerce development, Anton van der Merwe.
"Despite the interest rate cuts, we are still going to see a lot of belt tightening in the next six months."
The survey showed three out of four South Africans perceived the economic outlook to be very uncertain and felt a need to be prepared for unforeseen emergency expenditures. However, this is not to say consumers will not be spending at all.
When participants were asked what they would spend money on in the next six months, the top three items on the list were fashion and accessories, dining and entertainment, and buying and renovating homes or property.
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