The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) latest consumer confidence for July has shown that consumer confidence has improved compared to last year, but is still hovering in the negative territory, and consumers are still being pessimistic.
Though the consumer confidence index has improved and now stands at 77. 3, it is still in the negative territory, since consumers are still being pessimistic, the survey revealed. In May 2022, the consumer confidence index was 75.9. Index figures below 100 is considered to be in pessimistic territory, but if the index is above 100, it indicates optimism.
According to the survey, the current perception of the economic situation for July 2022 was at -41.5 compared to -40.2 in May 2022 in the previous round of survey. This indicated negative sentiments with signs of deterioration compared to the previous round.
That said, other aspects of the survey, namely, employment, price rise, and income, though showing negative sentiments, still showed signs of improvement compared to the last round, the survey said.
The figures for July 2022 for employment, price rise and income are -26.5, -94.3 and -17.7. The corresponding figures for May 2022 were -27.6, -94.9 and -18.9, respectively.
Spending, though showed signs of positive sentiments with sign of improvement compared to the last round of the survey in May 2022; 66.3 in July 2022 against 60.9 in May 2022 during the last survey, indicating hope in the overall economic situation improving within the next one year.
According to the survey, the current situation index (CSI) rose by 1.4 points on account of improved perception on employment, household income and spending.
Consumers’ perception of prevailing price level as well as inflation, however, showed a decline from the previous round of the survey. People expected further rise in prices, but were still hopeful of inflation moderating marginally over the next one year, the survey revealed.
Consumers nevertheless expressed optimism on the outlook for the economic situation and overall spending over the next one year.
The survey was conducted between July 7 and July 14, covering 6,083 respondents across 19 major cities. The survey obtains current perceptions against the year-ago period and the one-year ahead expectations on the general economic situation, employment scenario, overall price situation and own income and spending across these 19 cities.
