8216;Re,policy paralysis hit eco confidence8217;

Rupee,'policy paralysis',-ive credit rating hit confidence in the country: Ipsos World Survey.

Weakness in rupee,perceived 8220;policy paralysis8221; and negative credit rating led to decline in economic confidence in the country during April,says a survey by research firm Ipsos.

According to the Ipsos Economic Pulse of the World Survey,India8217;s economic confidence declined by seven points to 72 per cent in the month of April as compared to the previous month,to retain the second most economically confident nation title after Saudi Arabia,which tops the table with a wide margin at 89 per cent.

8220;India8217;s economic star is fading as a spluttering economy and reform paralysis put the country8217;s prized investment-grade rating at risk and spook foreign investors.

8220;With Standard amp; Poor8217;s cutting India8217;s credit outlook to negative and the depreciating rupee pulling back the domestic stock markets into the red,offsetting all attempts of a bounce back by the markets,8221; Ipsos India MD Mick Gordon said.

8220;Until recently,the country of 1.2 billion people was a must-have in foreign investor portfolios. But interest has waned with investors jittery about graft,policy U-turns,political gridlock with unruly coalition and infighting as well as infrastructure bottlenecks and slowing growth,8221; he added.

More than half of Indian citizens 54 per cent believe their local economy which impacts their personal finance is good and 55 per cent people expect that the economy in their local area will be stronger in next six months.

The Ipsos report,which examined citizens8217; assessment of the current state of their country8217;s economy,said that the overall global average economic confidence declined by one point to stand at 38 per cent last month.

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Individually,citizen confidence in Saudi Arabia stood at 86 per cent followed by India 72 per cent,Sweden 71 per cent,Germany 68 per cent and Australia 64 per cent.

Looking ahead,24 per cent global citizens surveyed said their local economy would be stronger six months from now.

The natives of Brazil are the quite optimistic about the state of their economy in the next six months,followed by Saudi Arabia and India.

The survey was conducted in April 2012 among nearly 19,000 people in 24 countries including India,the US,Australia,the UK,China and Brazil.