SEVEN OUT OF 10 MALAYSIANS BELIEVE COUNTRY IS ON RIGHT TRACK - IPSOS SURVEY

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 (Bernama) -- Seven out of 10 Malaysians believe the country is on the right track, according to a survey conducted by market research company Ipsos Sdn Bhd (Ipsos).

An Ipsos report titled “What Worries Malaysians?”, revealed that 71 per cent of respondents aged between 16 and 74 believed the country was heading in the right direction, marking a 19 per cent increase compared to the same period in October last year.

According to the Ipsos survey, 72 per cent of Malaysians had a positive view of the nation’s current economic position, attributing this to the government’s efforts to stabilise the economy and address cost of living pressures, as compared to the same period in October last year.

This has resulted in a significant 33 per cent increase in Malaysia’s economic sentiment over the past year.

The survey also revealed a 12 percent increase in the Malaysian Consumer Confidence index during the same period.

The Consumer Confidence Index graph indicated that, despite falling to 50 percent in both March and September this year, the index rose to 58 percent in October.

This led to Malaysia outperforming the global average, which remained at 49 percent during the same period.

In addition, the Ipsos survey showed that political/financial corruption remained the top concern for Malaysians, at 47 per cent, followed by unemployment (34 per cent) and poverty and social inequality (21 per cent) throughout the year.

Malaysians’ concern about inflation dropped to 25 per cent in October, marking a 21 per cent decrease compared to the same period last year.

However, the only growing concern was crime and violence, which stood at 29 per cent in October, up by 14 per cent from the previous year.

Meanwhile, Ipsos Malaysia Interim country manager Evelyn Tan said that despite the positive developments, Malaysians remained concerned about corruption and there was a surge of the concern regarding crime and violence.

“While Malaysians have gained confidence in their economic outlooks, it is important to reassure the public that our society is free from corruption and crime to sustain long-term confidence about the country’ direction,” she said in a statement accompanying the survey report.

-- BERNAMA