UPDATE – Turkish consumer confidence surges in March

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS </p> <p>By Muhammed Ali Gurtas</p> <p>ANKARA (AA) – Turkish consumers' confidence in the economy surged in March, the country's statistical authority announced Thursday. </p> <p>On a monthly basis, the consumer confidence index climbed 2.7 percent to stand at 59.4 this month.</p> <p>The index value is jointly calculated by TurkStat and the Central Bank through measurement of consumer tendencies.</p> <p>Last month, the figure was 57.8, down 0.7 percent from 58.2 in January.</p> <p>In 2018, the index value hovered between 72.7 and 57.6 — the highest posted in July and the lowest in October.</p> <p>On nearly 20 economic and financial criteria, consumers’ assessments and expectations for the next 12 months are measured in monthly tendency surveys.</p> <p>The index is calculated from the survey results on a range of 0-200, with above 100 indicating an optimistic outlook, and below 100 a pessimistic outlook.</p> <p>&quot;The general economic situation expectation index, which was 75 in February, increased by 4.9 percent to 78.6 in March,&quot; TurkStat said.</p> <p>This month, the index for consumer expectations of a better financial situation stood at 78.3, up from 75.2 in February.</p> <p>&quot;The number of people unemployed expectation index — 59 in February — decreased by 0.1 percent to 58.9 in March,&quot; the institute said.</p> <p>Consumers' tendency to save money for the next 12-month period also showed almost no change — 22 in March versus 22.02 in February.</p> <p>The country's statistical authority will release the next survey results on April 22.