After persistent recovery for almost two years, consumer confidence for the current period, as reflected in the current situation index (CSI), stood a shade lower than that witnessed in the previous survey round, the RBI said in its latest round of consumer confidence survey.
The latest round of the survey was conducted during July 1-10, 2023, covering 6,047 respondents. Female respondents accounted for 50.2 percent of this sample. Also, going forward, households expect improvement in general economic, employment and income conditions, the survey showed.
Also, sentiments on current income improved further and moved to an optimistic zone for the first time in four years and future earnings expectations remain buoyant, the survey revealed.
Consumers turned less pessimistic on the one year ahead price situation in the May 2023 round of the survey. The future expectation index (FEI) remained in optimistic terrain and recorded a marginal rise in the latest survey round.
On the inflation front, household perception of current inflation inched up by 10 basis points to 8.9 per cent in the latest round of the survey, the RBI said in its inflation survey.
Among major consumption categories, the share of respondents expecting a price rise over a three-month horizon is highest for the food group for the sixth successive survey round. For one year ahead, however, the pressure from the housing group also remains high, the survey showed.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which sets interest rates in India, on August 10 kept the repo rate unchanged, citing the continuing threat from inflation in Asia’s third-largest economy.
