Consumer confidence in Northern Ireland has risen to its highest level since the financial crisis.
Improvements in finances along with greater expectations for saving and spending are credited for the improvement since September 2008, Northern Bank official Angela McGowan said.
The bank published a Consumer Confidence Index for Northern Ireland today.
'The broad theme coming from the latest research is positive. There are encouraging signs across all key indicators used to measure consumer confidence,' Ms McGowan said.
She said that low interest rates over the last year, lower mortgage payments for those households on tracker mortgages combined with overall lower prices in 2009, have led to a reduction in the proportion of people feeling financially worse-off in December compared with one year ago.
Overall, consumers' assessment of their current financial position has improved over the quarter.
This is shown by a fall of 5% in the proportion of consumers who feel financially worse off now relative to one year ago, combined with a small rise in those currently feeling better off.
Ms McGowan said: 'Spending expectations showed a marked improvement, although 28% of consumers still plan to spend less. The survey also shows a determination amongst households to improve their finances with expectations of the amount that they will save rising overall.
'This reflects a similar international trend which shows a widespread desire by households to rebuild their savings. As household balance sheets improve, there is an expectation that both saving and spending should return to more sustainable levels.'
The report showed only a very marginal improvement in sentiment regarding future finances and job security.
There was a 4% decrease in the number of households that think their financial position will get worse over the next 12 months, but this improvement was offset by a decline in the proportion of households who think their financial position will improve, which fell from 17% to 14%.
There was also a marginal improvement in the proportion of people who saw their job security improve, while 11% of people still think job security will deteriorate over the next 12 months.
Ms McGowan said: 'A number of factors such as reduced hours, pay freezes and a high proportion of public sector workers in the local labour market have prevented unemployment levels in Northern Ireland from reaching the record highs experienced internationally.
'Typically confidence around job security falls at the start of a recession but this should start to improve as the economy recovers.'
