Egyptians buy fruits at a popular market in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Sept. 12, 2013 (Photo: AP)
Egypt's consumer confidence index declined in February on the previous month, data from the state-run Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC) showed Tuesday.
The index slipped 4.4 percent to 107 points last month, citing pessimism among educated youth respondents. The drop reverses January's trend, when the index rose 12 percent.
Egypt’s family-income index also dropped in February – down by 7.2 percent, with only 16 percent of Egyptians seeing an annual increase in their monthly income.
The economic policy confidence index fell 4.6 percent month-on-month, as 40.9 percent of consumers in the survey believe that Egypt’s economic situation is deteriorating, compared to 35 percent in January.
Finally, the portion of Egyptians who think the overall economic situation in Egypt will improve in the "coming period" dropped to 54.2 percent in February, versus almost 60 percent in January
According to the IDSC report, young Egyptians are the most pessimistic, especially those between 18 and 20, while the more optimistic age category is those above 50.
Strangely, highly-educated people as well as the illiterate tend to be more pessimistic in their views, as compared to high school graduates and the less formally educated.
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