India's economic confidence upbeat: Study

India’s economic confidence is on an upward swing due to falling inflation, appreciation of rupee and improving performance of industry and services sector which has boosted investor confidence, according to a report by global research firm Ipsos.

According to the “Ipsos Economic Pulse of the World” study, India's economic confidence level has been continuously increasing since October 2013 and it has reached to 61 percent in February 2014, a rise of 10 points. India now holds 6th position as the most economically confident country in the world after Saudi Arabia, Germany, China, Sweden, and Canada.

About four in ten (37%) Indians believe that the local economy which impacts their personal finance is good. Whereas five in ten (48%) people expect that the economy in their local area will be stronger in next six months, a surprising decline of 3 points.

“Bullish foreign investors are returning to India and plowing in billions of dollars into Indian equities, in anticipation of a more business-friendly government winning the general elections this spring,” said Mick Gordon, CEO, Ipsos in India.

“The upbeat Economic Confidence is further aided by resurgence in exports due to global economic revival, appreciation of rupee, improved performance of industry and services sector and moderation of inflation in India,” added Gordon.

The online Ipsos Economic Pulse of the World survey was conducted in February 2014 among 18,647 people in 25 countries.

Saudi Arabia (85%) tops the global ratings, followed by runners-up Germany (74%), China (69%), Sweden (69%), Canada (63%) and India (61%). Only a handful of those in Italy (7%) rate their national economies as ‘good’, followed by France (8%), Spain (8%), Hungary (14%) and South Africa (17%).

Countries with the greatest improvements in this wave: Great Britain (36%, 8pts), China (69%, 6pts), South Korea (23%, 6pts), Indonesia (45%, 5pts), Russia (32%, 4pts), India (61%, 3pts) and Mexico (23%, 3pts).

Great Britain improved eight points in February to 36%, reflecting a time when unemployment rates have fallen quickly and housing prices are on the rise. This is especially encouraging since the measure has been steadily increasing in Great Britain since this time last year (13% in April 2013).

On the other end, Latin America reflects a serious decline (-6pts to 23%) that is concentrated in Brazil (-11pts to 26%) and Argentina (-7pts to 21%). In both countries, high inflation and subsequent slow economic growth are expected to be contributing factors to these declines in consumer sentiment.

A majority of Brazilians (64%) continue to indicate they predict their local economies will be stronger in the next six months. A gap persists in between Brazilian ratings and the rest of the highest-ranking countries: Saudi Arabia (49%), Egypt (49%), India (48%), Indonesia (42%) and China (40%).