Q3 C'bean Consumer Sentiment

Consumer sentiment across Caricom improved somewhat during the third quarter of 2011. In the latest Department of Management Studies, UWI, Cave Hill, quarterly survey of consumer sentiment, the Caricom Consumer Sentiment Index (CCSI) rose from 58 to 66.

The CCSI for the third quarter of 2011 ranged from a high of 82 in Guyana to a low of 27 in Grenada. The most dramatic development for the quarter was an apparent collapse of consumer sentiment in Grenada as the CCSI for that country fell from 60 to 27. Consumer sentiment was most robust in the commodity-producing nations of Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. The somewhat stronger sentiment in these countries seems to reflect the fact these economies benefit from the current boom in commodity prices and are less dependent on tourism. An improved outlook for crime seems to have fuelled significant improvements in sentiment in Trinidad & Tobago where CCSI improved from 54 to 72 and in St Kitts & Nevis where the CCSI improved from 46 to 60, while changes in the political directorate appears to have improved sentiment in Jamaica.

justin.robinson@cavehill.uwi.edu