Consumer confidence has fallen sharply in Egypt and Lebanon over the past six months, according to the latest MasterCard Index. But confidence was up in the UAE, the only country surveyed to show an increase.
The UAE index score of 85.4 was up on 78.5 six months ago, although survey newcomer Qatar was higher at 88.6 as was Kuwait at 89.4. Saudi Arabia showed a dip from 92.2 to 80.1.
But there was a huge gap between the winners and losers in the Middle East. Confidence plunged from 65.9 to 32.3 in Egypt due to food inflation and the jobs outlook, while politically challenged Lebanon saw its confidence score collapse to 32 against 38.7 previously.
MasterCard regional general manager, Denzil Lawson said he expected Lebanon to rebound quickly on the back of the recent political settlement. In Egypt the outlook was less certain.
The UAE hike in confidence reflected a strong jobs market and improved quality of life, something Mr. Lawson put down to improving traffic, pay rises and a perception that key infrastructure like the Dubai Metro would shortly be finished as well as a booming property market.
Interestingly confidence in local stock markets remains fairly subdued which might counter expectations of a rebound this autumn.
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