According to the Consumer Confidence Index of the UCR, more people expect that poverty and unemployment will increase in the short term, due to the lack of economic recovery that the country is experiencing.
According to the data published this Wednesday, 62.3% of those surveyed by the University expect that in the next 12 months unemployment will increase; three months ago that percentage was 58.7%.
In the case of poverty, expectations of an increase in this indicator went from 65.3% in February to 69% in May.
A year ago, when Carlos Alvarado came to power, 41% of the population believed there would be more people without work and 43% saw an increase in poverty.
For Johnny Madrigal, researcher of the UCR and in charge of the Consumer Confidence Index, citizens are not yet seeing the effects of economic reactivation that were promised after the fiscal plan was approved.
For that reason, if current conditions and future expectations are compared to the future economy of the country, the current moment is valued more negatively than three months ago. What deteriorates confidence? One factor is the perception of the personal economic situation, since family income is expected to be lower than that received last year,”
added Madrigal.
The expert also pointed out that when the consumer has a low level of confidence it affects the development of the economy, especially the service sector, because their purchasing power diminished, they prefer to buy only basic products.