The iconic Indian car maker, Maruti, was a company that took pride in steady sales growth, and even the country took pride in the same. Now the sales are down, and not just by a single digit, but a whopping 36.3 per cent. The company cut production by 25 per cent last month, for a sixth month in a row.
Same could be the story with other sectors that constitute non-essentials.
The times are terrible, and they are only likely to get worse. Not just for the manufacturing sector, but possibly a lot of things that constitute the Indian economy.
That is also the public sentiment with regard to the economic situation and employment scenario, according to the Consumer Confidence Survey conducted in July and released by the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday.
People are indeed losing confidence in the economy. The survey, conducted in 13 major cities across the country, shows that consumers who participated in the survey are not only pessimistic about the current situation, but also feel that their future is not bright either. Spending on “non-essentials” will probably go down, and spending on essentials may go up, according to the survey.
The survey roped in 5,351 responses on households' perceptions and expectations on the general economic situation, the employment scenario, overall price situation and their own income and spending.
According to the RBI, consumers' perceptions on the general economic situation and the employment scenario softened, while their assessment of their own incomes turned out to be less optimistic than in May 2019. They also perceived a rise in the price level and the majority expect prices to rise over the next year. They are less optimistic about discretionary spending.
If the overall current situation index dropped from 97.3 in May to 95.7 last month, the future expectations index dropped from 128.4 to 124.8. This according to the RBI , represents “negative sentiments with sign of deterioration compared to the last round”.
Both in terms of economy and economic situation, they see things getting worse, with their confidence going down, compared to the survey in May 2019.
There were more responses saying the general economic situation had worsened over the two months, and fewer saying they had improved. Similarly, only a fewer voices expected things to improve over the next year, and more were sure that it will only worsen.
On the price fronts, more thought the prices had gone up, and fewer thought they had gone down. And more surveyed people said prices would only go northward. But on the inflation front, more said it had gone down, and fewer compared to May, felt that it will go up.
