Experts evaluate the challenges of the current economic scenario on Consumer Day; ‘inflation affects almost all sectors’

Malu Dacio – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – Annually remembered this Tuesday, 15, when in theory we should celebrate the Consumer Day, there are not many reasons for celebration. High interest rates, food and fuel prices generate an environment of insecurity for those who want to shop.

Thinking about this, the CENARIUM MAGAZINE sought economists to not only signal the economic moment we are living, but also bring some tips on how to “get out of the red” and possibly have more purchasing power.

University professor and economic consultant Mourão Júnior points out the difficulties in consuming and buying, especially on this Consumer’s Day, in a country where the economy and salaries are low.

“And if salaries are low, the purchasing power reflects this. In addition, in the more macroeconomic aspect, we have a high inflation that has been coming since 2021 and will extend to 2022”, he explains.

Besides this, there is the issue of high interest rates that reflects on the purchasing power. “These two variables weigh mainly on the issue of consumption, at the time when the consumer will make the decision of the things he needs”, said the economist.

According to Mourão, the essential thing is to plan your accounts, the so-called financial education. “It is important for you to be able to visualize what you are spending and what your purchasing power is. Avoid credit issues, overdraft checks, and try to save money”, indicated the specialist.

The economist suggests apps on your smartphone. “Places for you to put your data and make your financial control for decision making; if you want to buy a car, travel and other things. Only with financial control and with this planning will the consumer be able to know his purchasing power. It’s very important for making decisions and for an excellent financial health”, advises the economist.

Internet can be cheaper

Economist and president of Corecon-AM, Marcus Evangelista says that the main difficulty for the consumer today is to deal with inflation. “Every month the purchasing power is decreasing because every month inflation is rising in our country. Despite the federal government’s attempt to increase the Selic rate to try to hold down the rise in prices, this hasn’t happened yet”, he explains.

Giving options, Evangelista defends that the alternative is to look for all means to have access to more affordable offers. Another tip is to use the internet. “The Internet has come to help at this moment, because e-commerce ends up having a lower cost and thus lower prices”, he explains.

However, the economist reminds us that we need to pay attention and consider freight prices. “It is necessary for that economy not to be absorbed by the value of freight, since we are isolated, geographically, from the rest of Brazil”, said the specialist.

Economist Willander Buraslan says that everyone needs to consume products and services in some way, but the biggest difficulty today is precisely balancing the limited budget to the constant increases that are happening throughout the chain.

“With the increase in the basic inputs for the production of food and goods, their price for the final consumer also rises. Add this to the increase in gasoline prices, for example, and the logistical cost of transporting the products also becomes expensive”, said Buraslan.

In addition, the high dollar favors exports, so it is more advantageous for the producer to export the goods than to sell in the domestic market. According to the specialist, this generates shortages and, consequently, an increase in prices for the Brazilian consumer.

“At the moment, trying to save money and buying only the essentials is the best option. In the markets, one suggestion is to opt for cheaper brands or complementary foods, but unfortunately there is not much margin for action, inflation affects almost all sectors of the economy”, explains the economist.

“To have a greater purchasing power, in the current scenario, it is necessary to focus on new sources of income. Inflation causes the purchasing power to be reduced, so, to balance it out, one will have to supplement it with extra incomes or new sources of fixed income until prices stabilize or go down again, but the scenario is not optimistic”, he suggested.

Purchasing power plummets

An unprecedented survey, nationwide, carried out by proScore, credit bureau and Score authority, based on its author’s DPC index (which measures the Consumer’s Purchasing Power) shows that although it has presented a subtle improvement of 76% in the first quarter of 2022, compared to 86% in 2021, when it reached the lowest percentage of liquidity for the period in the last four years, the purchasing power of Brazilians is still low.

From the sample worked on, proScore found that the difference for people still able to consume in order to make new financial commitments was concentrated in 3 ranges that show that the higher their percentage, the greater their ability to acquire goods and services of greater value. The result was as follows: Band 1 of 10% (5.3%), Band 2 of 20% (8.8%) and Band 3 of 30% (9.9%).

In face of this finding, precisely at the beginning of the consumer week, when naturally occurs a rain of marketing actions and promotions that seek to stimulate sales, according to Mellissa Penteado, CEO of proScore, not all this quantity and diversity of campaigns will manage to animate the Brazilian consumers.

“This low percentage means that we still have a long way to go in the face of all the efforts of economic recovery. Many monetary gaps, such as the lack of employment and income generation and the price increases in several segments over the last 24 months, will unfortunately continue to penalize the circulation of money itself and compromise the purchasing power of the population”, analyzes the specialist.

Increase in the level of indebtedness

Another index calculated in the study is the relative potential indebtedness factor, which showed an increasing trend towards a concentration of the average debt ticket in relation to the generation of recurring income. Between 2019 and 2020, the time before and the beginning of the pandemic, this factor indicated slight stability, however, for 2021 there was a significant jump of 28%, reinforced in the 2022 survey.