- Consumer confidence levels can drop, but consumer spending does not reflect it.
- It is according to the CEO of Mastercard, Michael Miebach, speaking at Semaor’s World Economy Summit.
- “The consumer today is an autonomous consumer who will always stick to what he wants to do,” he said.
Consumer confidence has taken a hit in the midst of economic uncertainty, but you would not know according to the current figures for consumer expenses on a major credit card.
Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach said that spending had not yet changed despite increasing anxieties about changing prices, a possible recession and the weakening of the dollar.
“The consumer today is an autonomous consumer who will always stick to what he wants to do,” said Miebach during Semaor in 2025 World Economy Summit on Wednesday. “They always want to make this trip.”
Miebach said that although “flexible data” such as big securities and consumer trust studies would sum up in consumption expenses, there is currently no evidence in real -time spending information that Mastercard is monitoring.
“Hard data does not yet reflect where the consumer is,” he said.
In March, for example, he highlighted a 1.4% increase in consumption expenses, which, according to him, was “nothing out of the ordinary”.
“This is the most posed question I get, then when I say what I just said. People say that there must be something more,” said Miebach about consumer spending. “But right now there are none.”
Consumer confidence Recorded at 92.9 in March, going to its lowest level since 2021, according to the latest survey of the Conference Board. Wall Street keeps a vigilant eye on consumer feeling, because a lower perspective on spending could put a breach in business profits and have an impact on the stock market.
businessinsider
