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MENA consumers' outlook optimistic

The results shows that consumers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region continue to have an optimistic economic outlook for the next six months.

The research was conducted in February this year amongst a sample of 400 consumers in each market. In total, 2,845 respondents were surveyed. Consumer sentiment in the South Asia, Middle East and Africa (SAMEA) region has slightly improved reaching 79.1 from 69.8 in the second half of 2004 and looking specifically at the MENA region has improved reaching 79.7 from 70.2 in the same period.

Egyptian consumers marked the highest improvement in consumer confidence, with an increase of 40 per cent over the past 12 months. The index of UAE consumer sentiments has risen by 10 per cent from six months ago to 92.9 from 83.0, demonstrating extremely high expectations of regular income and the economy. Denzil Lawson, senior vice president and general manager of MasterCard International, Mena region told Khaleej Times, “The MasterIndex is calculated based upon percentage figures, with zero as the most pessimistic, 100 as most optimistic and 50 as neutral. The MasterIndex of Consumer Confidence is the mean score of the five relative indices which measures the relative optimism of the respondents in Employment, Economy.