'India, China still smile about economy'

Contrary to the global trend, people in India and China are optimistic about their national economic condition, found a recent survey by Pew Research Centre, an independent body.

A majority of people in 18 of the 24 countries surveyed described their current national economic situation as bad and believed things would either worsen or stay constant over the next year.

The survey was conducted on more than 24,000 people.

China and India are exceptions to these trends, where people are largely happy with their current economic situation and optimistic about their economic future.

The survey found South Koreans most overtaken by gloom, with 92 per cent saying their national economic conditions were bad, followed by Lebanon (90 per cent), Japan (85 per cent) and France (81 per cent).

Respondents in advanced Western countries gave the most negative evaluations of their economic conditions.

In Great Britain, positive views of the economy declined from 69 per cent in 2007 to 30 per cent in 2008, while in the US it slipped from 50 per cent to 20 per cent.

In contrast, some of the most positive evaluations came from countries that

have experienced strong growth rates in recent years.

Solid majorities in China (82 per cent), followed by Australia (69 per cent) and India (62 per cent) hold positive views of their economies.

Large majorities in countries ranging from advanced Great Britain and Germany to developing nations like Egypt and Indonesia say the US is having a largely negative influence on their economy.

India was one of only two countries — the other being Nigeria — where more than a third of respondents expressed a positive view of America’s economic influence.