Consumer spending to fall 2% in another tough year

RETAILERS are set for another difficult year as consumer spending is expected to plunge by more than 2% this year.

In the last quarter of 2010 consumer confidence dropped to -25, according to the UCD Michael Smurfit graduate business school and the Marketing Institute of Ireland (MII) consumer market monitor.

The budget, IMF bailout and government uncertainties all led to the decline which was at -12 in August. The Irish index dropped below Britain by 30% and EU by 24% in the same period.