Turkish consumer confidence index down in March

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's monthly consumer confidence index slipped month-on-month in March, falling 1.3 percent, according to official data released Tuesday.

The economic confidence index dropped to 71.3 points down from 72.3 points in February, Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said in a statement.

According to TurkStat, the index indicates an optimistic outlook on the general economic situation when it is above 100, or a pessimistic outlook when it is below 100.

The drop largely owed to worsening expectations in future financial condition, the future state of the economy and in the jobless number. The three indices dropped to 90.6, 95.1, and 73.5 points, respectively.

The probability of saving was the only index to go up, marking an increase of 1.2 percent at 26 points in March.

TurkStat said the rise was mainly due to a drop in the number of consumers who have no prospect of saving over the next 12 months.

The next batch of TurkStat data on consumer confidence is due on April 20.