Consumer pessimism grows
CONSUMER confidence is at its lowest level in Northern Ireland since 2013, a survey has suggested.
It declined sharply in the first quarter of the year as the coronavirus pandemic took hold, Danske Bank said.
Thirty-six per cent of people surveyed expected their finances to worsen over the next year, compared with a fifth who envisaged their financial position improving, probably due to unease about the long-term impact of the virus.
Danske Bank chief economist Conor Lambe said: “Given the measures put in place in reduring sponse to the virus, households are likely to spend their money differently to how they normally would.
“At an aggregate level, the areas in which spending might temporarily increase are not expected to be anywhere near enough to offset the falls in expenditure on other goods and services.
“As such, we are projecting that total consumer spending will decline sharply in Northern Ireland as a result of the pandemic.”
He said confidence levels are one of the factors that will influence the pace of the recovery in consumer spending once the lockdown measures begin to be gradually lifted.
The survey was carried out March and only partly captures the impact of the restrictions on sentiment levels.
When asked what factor had the largest negative impact on their confidence levels, 43% pointed to global risks.
This is considerably higher than in previous surveys and can be attributed to the coronavirus pandemic, given the extent to which it had already affected countries across the globe at the time of the survey, the bank said.
Household expenditure on the purchase of cars, clothing and footwear, furniture and restaurant meals is expected to be lower, while there may be temporary increases in spending on food and drink, takeaways, cleaning materials, toiletries and soap.
THE Queen and members of the royal family have revealed their favourite flowers to mark the start of the Chelsea Flower Show online.
Buckingham Palace said lily of the valley is one of the Queen’s most-loved blooms, while the Prince of Wales adores delphiniums.
Lily of the valley, with its bell-shaped white flowers, featured in her coronation bouquet.
Some members of the royal family also shared photos of plants in their gardens amid lockdown.