Quality-of-life expectations rise in Q3 — SWS

QUALITY-of-life expectations in the next 12 months rose in the third quarter compared with the second, Social Weather Stations (SWS) said, citing the results of a survey of 1,500 respondents nationwide.

The net score of respondents who believe their personal quality of life will improve in the next 12 months was +42, up from +40 in the preceding quarter, it said.

The net score is the difference between percentage of respondents expecting an improvement, classified by SWS as “optimists,” and those expecting conditions to deteriorate, or “pessimists.”

SWS said it considers a net score of +42 to be “excellent.”

“Net personal optimism had been excellent since December 2015 except in (the quarter ending) March 2017,” the SWS noted, when it was “very high” at +36, it said.

Mindanao yielded net personal optimism of + 46, against +37 in the preceding quarter. In Metro Manila, the indicator rose six points to +52 over the same period.

It classified net personal optimism as “very high” in the Visayas, where the net score rose three points to + 39. In Balance Luzon, which excludes Metro Manila, the net score fell to a “very high” +39 from an “excellent” +42 a quarter earlier.

“The 2-point rise in Net Personal Optimism nationwide was due to increases in Mindanao, Metro Manila and Visayas, combine with a slight decline in Balance Luzon from June 2017 to September 2017,” the SWS noted.

The ABC socioeconomic class net score rose 14 points in the quarter to + 53, taking the category over the line to “excellent” from “very high” a quarter earlier.

The Class D net score rose a point to +42, remaining “excellent,” while the Class E score also rose a point to +38, or “very high.”

The survey also indicated that 43% of those surveyed were bullish that the general Philippine economy will improve next year, while 12% are expecting it to deteriorate, for a net score of +30, which it considers “excellent” and three points higher than the net score of a quarter earlier.

It said net optimism on the Philippine Economy has been “excellent” for eight surveys running, or since December 2015.

In Mindanao, it rose 17 points to +51 from the preceding quarter. In Metro Manila, it rose three points to +30. Balance Luzon was unchanged at +23 while Visayas fell three points to +24.

Across all classes, net scores were also “excellent” with ABC up 11 points at +33, E up eight points at +32, and D up three points at +30.

Asked about changes to their personal quality of life compared with 12 months earlier, 39% said their lives improved while 19% said they are worse off, for a net score of +19, which SWS classifies as “very high.” The net score rose two points from a quarter earlier and matches the record +19 from the quarter ending September 2016.

It said gains in this score were driven largely by respondents in Mindanao and Metro Manila, with a steady rise noted in Balance Luzon, and a decline in the Visayas.

Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion, chief economist at Union Bank of the Philippines, Inc said in an e- mail message: “It seems that there are marked increases across the board. This means that optimism about the Philippine economy by Filipinos themselves is high. This is indicative optimism is in support of the recent better-than-expected 3Q GDP growth of 6.9% and the continuing strong macroeconomic fundamentals.”

Noting positive views for the next 12 months, he said the result suggests significant level of satisfaction with the current administration’s economic polices.

“Although there is still much to be done, it seems that the general and growing sentiment is positive towards what the Duterte administration is trying to accomplish, such as the Build, Build, Build and tax reform programs,” he added. —