Consumer Pulse Q2 2022

Elections and global crisis impact local economy 

After starting the year strong, the Philippine economy is expected to slow down and end its quarter-on-quarter growth. This is highly attributed to the election season affecting spending and investment of both the government and private sectors.¹ Additionally, the local inflation  rate increased to 5.4% in May due to the continuous global oil price hikes.² 

Tightening of belts foreseen

With 46% of Filipino consumers having used up savings to cover for bills and loans, a decrease in discretionary spending is expected in the next couple of months. A significant number of consumers also revealed they’re trying to save more in emergency funds, putting a stop to  the ‘revenge spending’ trend seen among Filipinos during the lockdown.³

Empowering consumers through alternative data

More Filipinos (95%) saw the importance of credit monitoring and made it a point to check their credit at least once a week (53%). However, with the uptick in online transactions across generations, a majority (54%) of consumers also believed their credit scores would improve  if financial institutions looked beyond the standard credit report.

¹ https://business.inquirer.net/321057/quarter-on-quarter-ph-gdp-growth-could-end-in-q2

² https://www.rappler.com/business/inflation-rate-philippines-may-2022/

³ https://business.inquirer.net/350141/uk-think-tank-revenge-spending-in-ph-likely-over-as-savings-dry-up