HONG KONG: Taiwan's consumers remain pessimistic toward the future, and are far less buoyant than counterparts on the mainland, in Hong Kong and Macao, according to a survey released yesterday by City University of Hong Kong.

The survey, taken during the second quarter, gave Taiwan a score of 55 on a scale upon which zero to 100 shows negative sentiment. Locales scoring between 100 and 200 are considered as having positive consumer sentiment.

Taiwanese consumers polled expressed strong pessimism towards the island's domestic business prospects, with a confidence score of only 38.7.

There are positive trends about real estate investment. The survey revealed a score of 76.9, the highest level of confidence in any sector among the people of Taiwan.

Of the four areas surveyed, Beijing had the highest consumer confidence index at 99.1. Consumer confidence in the capital measured 119.7 in terms of economic development and 124.5 in terms of domestic business conditions.

Hong Kong ranked second among the four, with a score of 87.5 on average and 106.4 in terms of domestic business conditions.

Macao had an average score of 81.2, with a score of 97.3 on domestic business conditions and 92.9 on economic development.

Consumer confidence in all four areas is expected to suffer further as the economic downturn drags on.

"The consumer confidence index is believed to decline slightly in the next quarter, as college graduates join the job market and find it a lot more difficult to get a job," commented Geoffrey Kwok-fai Tso, a professor at the university as well as the director of the survey.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 07/17/2009 page2)