Pew research report released on July 23, 2015, said 74 percent of Indians believe that the country’s economic conditions are good, a 10 percent jump from a year ago. “In emerging markets, half or more in 14 of 21 countries see their economy as negative. The gloomiest are Ukrainians (94 percent), Lebanese (89 percent) and Brazilians (87 percent),” the report said. “At the same time, 90 percent of Chinese, 86 percent of Vietnamese and 74 per cent of Indians think economic conditions are good in the year 2015,” it said.
Seventy four percent of Indian respondents believe that the economy is doing well and are bullish about the future. This is in contrast with fellow BRICS member Brazil, where 87 percent said their outlook is negative.
Chinese people are even more certain that the economy is on the right track, despite a slowdown. 90 percent of them said the economy is doing just fine and are hopeful about the future. 86 percent of Vietnamese residents have expressed the similar sentiments.
Ukraine had the gloomy outlook, not unsurprisingly due to the turmoil in the region that has taken a high toll on the economy. People of Lebanon too said the economy’s not in good shape, 89 percent.
People in the advanced countries are overall pessimistic. Only 38 percent of Europeans are bullish about the economy. EU region struggling to grow and the crisis in Greece, have reflected the respondents views.
“European and Japanese views, while far from positive, have now returned to or exceed pre-financial-crisis levels. But American attitudes, while rebounding, are still more negative than they were in 2007. This modest recovery in public economic sentiment parallels a gradual pickup in economic growth in many of these economies,” it said.
The survey states that a median of just 40 percent in advanced economies, say, the conditions are good, as do 45 percent in emerging economies and 46 per cent in developing nations. The study concluded that the overall sentiment is largely unchanged from economic sentiment in comparable countries in 2014. Pew said that there is a sign of growing public faith in an economic recovery in some of the largest economies.
By Premji
