Why are consumers in UAE, India, Philippines so bullish?

Consumers in the UAE, India and the Philippines are the most bullish in the world even as the prospect of job loss hampers that bullish outlook in the short term, according to the latest consumer confidence findings from Nielsen.
The Nielsen Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending Intentions shows that Indian consumers are the world's most optimistic, with consumer confidence increasing by five points from the previous quarter to a score of 133.

Consumer confidence in the Philippines remained stable at 132 points, earning the country the #2 slot on the confidence charts while confidence among Indonesian consumers rose by 3 points to 122, ranking the country at #3 slot.
At #4 in the UAE, consumer confidence actually declined by a point from the previous quarter to a score of 108, but the country remains among the Top 5 most confident countries in the world.
Consumers in the UAE remain more bullish than their counterparts in the US and the UK (106 each), Pakistan (101) and Saudi Arabia (100).
The findings show that the number of respondents from the UAE who view their personal financial situation as good or excellent went down by four percentage points to 64 per cent quarter-on-quarter, while positive outlook on job prospects remained flat at 64 per cent over the same period.
Less than half of UAE respondents (46 per cent) believe the next 12 months will be a good time to buy the things they want and need, down from 48 per cent in the second quarter of 2016.

Job security remains the biggest or second-biggest concern for 47 per cent of UAE respondents, an increase of one percentage point from the second quarter.
Job concerns were followed by worries about the economy (21 per cent) and children's education and welfare (16 per cent); with increases of one percentage point and three percentage points respectively from the second quarter.
Worry about work/life balance (18 per cent) was up two percentage points from the second quarter, and concern about parents' welfare and happiness (16 per cent) was down four percentage point.
"Despite the slowdown in growth, the UAE has proven to be fairly resilient to the recent economic headwinds triggered by low oil prices, due to its relatively diversified economy compared to that of neighboring Gulf countries. The UAE has maintained indexes above optimism baseline for at least the past 8 quarters and is amongst the 16 countries globally to reach or exceed the optimism benchmark," said Arslan Ashraf, managing director, Nielsen Arabian Peninsula and Pakistan.

"While the findings from the survey show that consumer continue to be prudent with their expenses, it is also important to note that consumer lifestyle and consumption patterns do not change overnight, but it is a gradual phenomenon."
The Nielsen Consumer Confidence Index is fielded quarterly in 63 countries to measure the perceptions of local job prospects, personal finances, immediate spending intentions and related economic issues of real consumers around the world. Consumer confidence levels above and below a baseline of 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism, respectively.
Global Consumer Confidence
Scores varied dramatically region to region, demonstrating considerable economic diversity around the world. In Asia-Pacific, consumer confidence scores ranged from a high of 133 to a low of 46, with similar divergent scores in Europe (from 107 to 50), Latin America (from 104 to 57) and Africa/Middle East (from 108 to 70). In North America, however, confidence scores were more closely aligned in the US (106) and Canada (97).

• Dubai