sobering news on the grapevine: local consumer mall spending on the wane

There are signs that local Philippine consumer spending may be going down.

Less Traffic
I'm sure I'm not the only one who noticed that traffic in our Metro's streets has been behaving nicely. Unfortunately, people traffic in our shopping malls have been reportedly low also.

Lower spending in malls
I heard that credit card usage was not rising sharply alongside metro manila mall sale periods. A rise in credit card usage is normal during periods wherein malls have big sales. People have been spending less money lately, at least as far as malls are concerned.

Fearful metropolis
Could this be the beginning of a trend where people start tightening their belts? Or are we just seeing a blip caused by the local political chaos? Not too long ago, an explosion in Glorietta was largely believed to be a tactic of the administration to divert the public's attention from attacks against it. Whether this be true or not, people are fearful that it may happen again. Whether the fear is misplaced or not, the fear itself is real.

Lower dollar
Another possible reason for lower spending is the falling dollar. I've personally heard of dollar earning people cutting down on expenses simply because they don't have as much anymore, and it looks to them like things may either stay that way or even get worse.

Effect on the market
Strong domestic consumption has been one of the Philippine's greatest strengths. If this weakens, it will negatively affect our overall economy. News like this will definitely dampen investor sentiment specially since everyone is already factoring in shrinking exports. Hopefully, the fall in consumer mall spending is temporary and will not affect domestic consumption as a whole.

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