Pulse of the Nation: Budget 2019 – Track 2

As a follow up to the preliminary poll conducted on the day of the 2019 Budget (5 March), market research firm PepperCube Consultants Ltd. carried out a second public poll two weeks after the Budget 2019 to get a more informed assessment. PepperCube was commissioned by the Daily FT for this exclusive poll.

Methodology was random street intercepts and face to face interviews. Digital data collection via a structured questionnaire. Target group was males and females of between ages 18 and 65 years. Sample surveyed were 1,200 people countrywide with district level representation. 

Key takes were as follows

nKey expectations remained around cost/price reduction with 90% expecting prices of essentials to be reduced and around 50% expecting prices of fuel/gas to be reduced.

n61% (of all respondents) believed that the 2019 Budget will have an impact on their day to day life but only 36% (of the 61%) expected the impact to be positive. This is a 24 point decline in the “positives” Vs. the initial feedback received on the “budget day” two weeks ago.  

nAt an overall level, 20% indicated that the budget was positive (down from 23% two weeks ago) whilst for 34% it was a negative budget (up from 15% two weeks ago).

nCOL expectation over the next 12 months: 54% believe that COL will further increase whilst 22% expect COL to decline from its current levels (due to the 2019 Budget)

n85% of those polled indicated that the 2019 Budget “did not meet their expectations”.