KARACHI: Consumer confidence, which was “pessimistic” even before the pandemic ground the economy to a halt, remains negative, according to the findings of two pre- and post-Covid-19 surveys conducted jointly by Dun & Bradstreet and Gallup Pakistan.

The two pollsters launched their inaugural report titled Pakistan Consu­mer Confidence Index (CCI) on Tuesday, which shows sentiments about the current situation were “more negative” in the post-Covid-19 survey owing to the impact of the pandemic-induced economic downturn.

The first survey was conducted face-to-face with 2,041 respondents in February and early March whereas the second one was based on phone interviews with 1,500 respondents in July-August.

The job market seems to be worst hit as a result of Covid-19. Four out of five consumers feel that unemployment has either increased or increased a lot in the last six months. More than half (51pc) of the respondents expressed concerns that their household financial situation had worsened in the last six months.

Similarly, two out of every three consumers felt that the prices of daily essentials have increased significantly in the last six months.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2020