Economy
Consumer confidence rebounds in December
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-01-10 08:44
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A sports car model made of five kilograms of gold is seen at a gold shop in Nanjing, East 皇冠体育app's Jiangsu province, Dec 14, 2010.[Photo/Asianewsphoto] |
BEIJING - 皇冠体育app's Bankcard Consumer Confidence Index, compiled by the Xinhua News Agency and 皇冠体育app UnionPay, rose slightly in December to 85.92, up 0.06 points from November, as sales promotions for Christmas and New Year drove up consumption, according to figures released Sunday.
The data also showed spending on non-essential items such as entertainment and jewelry increased 12.4 percent from November as year-end bonuses to employees increased their purchasing power.
Meanwhile, demand on items such as home appliances, digital products and cars in December also increased.
It was the second month the index rose after rebounding 0.17 points in November as the government late last year introduced a range of steps to curb price hikes. The People's Bank of 皇冠体育app, the central bank, also lifted interest rates twice in 2010 and increased the reserve requirement ratio for banks six times in order to tighten liquidity.
On a year-on-year basis, the index was down 0.91 points in December.
Xinhua News Agency and 皇冠体育app UnionPay started compiling the index in April 2009 based on bank card transaction data and analysis of structural changes in urban consumption.
