YEREVAN, December 21, /ARKA/. In the fourth quarter of the outgoing year consumer confidence index in Armenia dropped to 94.7% from a year before and was down from 106.3% in the third quarter of 2011, the Central Bank of Armenia told ARKA.

It said compared to the third quarter of 2011 it was 90.9%. The index of current conditions in the fourth quarter of 2011 was said to have increased by 2.4% from the third quarter of 2011. The sub-index used to assess large purchases increased by 10.3%, a little down from 11.6% in the third quarter. The sub-index that assesses current economic conditions dropped to 90.3% from 115.4% in the third quarter.

According to the Central Bank, a sub-index, evaluating expectation in large purchases dropped to 92.8% and expectations in income changes fell to 82.8%. The index used to evaluate the family employment index in the next quarter decreased to 91.9%.

The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) is an indicator designed to measure consumer confidence, which is defined as the degree of optimism on the state of the economy that consumers are expressing through their activities of savings and spending.

Since early 2005 the Central Bank of Armenia has been conducting quarterly surveys of non-financial, financial institutions and households to assess changes in current economic conditions compared to the previous period, to assess the economic expectations of the subjects under study and based on survey data to calculate and publish composite economic indexes.

The surveys are conducted over the Internet, telephone, letter and fax. Based on the survey results indices of business environment, economic activity and consumer confidence are calculated on a 100-point scale. The score above 50 shows high activity and below 50 a low activity, and 50 a steady-state condition. –0—