Households hesitant to spend

Rural India's steep fall in willingness to spend on consumer durables and urban India's scepticism regarding their future well-being is worrisome

Consumer sentiments in India deteriorated in August 2022 after having improved substantially in the previous month.  The Index of Consumer Sentiments (ICS) shrunk by 0.5 per cent in August after having risen by an impressive 6.7 per cent in July. The ICS had been rising in every month of 2022 till July. The August fall therefore broke a seven-month record of regular gains. Household perceptions do not seem poised for a quick recovery in consumer sentiments. The first week of September saw the ICS fall by a substantial 3.1 per cent.

The weakening of consumer sentiments in August reflects, to a