SAO PAULO–Brazil’s main consumer confidence index fell in May to the lowest level since April 2009, amid the country’s poor economic activity and inflationary pressures, the Getulio Vargas Foundation, or FGV, said Friday.
FGV said its consumer confidence index for May was 102.8 points, down from 106.3 in April. It was the lowest level since April 2009, when it was 99.7 points. The index has a 1-200 point range, with 100 considered an indicator of neutral sentiment.
After an economic expansion of just 2.3% in 2013, Brazil’s economy is expected to expand less than 2% this year, a rate that economists consider too low for a developing nation.
In addition, Brazil’s economic poor performance came amid high inflation, which is running around 6.3% a year, close to the upper limit set by the central bank.
The consumer confidence index polls 2,000 families in Brazil’s seven largest cities. It measures the willingness of families to make purchases of various types of consumer goods and gauges expectations about employment, income and economic opportunities.