- Sunday, February 23, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Shubham Ghosh
THE devastating Covid-19 pandemic has not only left India’s health sector in a shambles but also hit its economy hard. While growing unemployment is a regular story, the country’s consumer class has also taken a toll as its confidence has hit new lows in the current situation.
According to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) consumer confidence survey, the current situation index plummeted to 48.5 points in May from 53.1 in March. India’s central bank has also said that the respondents of the survey harboured little hope about the future. According to the survey, the future expectations index dropped from 109.8 to 96.4 in the same period that it covered.
Consumers are more worried now
The RBI noted in the survey that household spending has been found to be weakened. It said the consumers’ anxiety over the current situation in the country and employment scenario has grown. Even essential spending has become moderate while non-essential spending has shrunk.
Such findings do not augur well for an economy which is primarily driven by consumption. Weakness is being witnessed in almost everything from retail activity to road congestion and demand of power to rising joblessness.
In May, too, it was reported that consumer confidence in India has gone down. The monthly Refinitiv-Ipsos Primary Consumer Sentiment Index for India showed in the same month a fall of 6.3 percentage points compared to April as Covid-19 fears surged.
IANS quoted Amit Adarkar, Ipsos India CEO, as saying last month: “The second wave has been far greater in intensity as compared to the first wave and we are seeing its terrible impact not only on our healthcare infrastructure, which is stressed due to the steep surge in cases, but also on consumer sentiment, which has plummeted across the four sub-indices (jobs, personal finances, economy and investments for the future). Especially for personal finances, for day to day running of household expenses and savings and investments for the future.”
