Indians most optimistic in Asia Pacific region

India is the most optimistic market in Asia Pacific in terms of consumer confidence, according to the MasterCard Index of Consumer Confidence. A majority of Indians (91.5 per cent) are confident about employment prospects in the country and there has been a 3.1 point rise in the number of people who have a positive outlook on the economy, from 91.4 in H2 2014 to 94.5 in H1 2015. People also expressed optimism that their regular income may increase, as well as confidence that their quality of life may improve over the next six months. The highest levels of optimism were seen in the cities of New Delhi and Bangalore.

While optimism in India increased, the first half of 2015 saw confidence levels recede in a number of Asia Pacific markets, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand. These declines reflect an increasingly uncertain economic outlook. Overall, in the Asia Pacific markets , the levels of optimism remain stable in H1 2015 compared to H1 2014. This stability reflects the fact that the most pessimistic markets are showing signs of improvement while the most optimistic are showing lower confidence.