Skip to main content

Noteban impact: Consumer confidence deteriorates in six top metro cities of India, admits Reserve Bank

In an unusual admission, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that the consumer confidence index (CCI) of people, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s controversial noteban decision of November 8, 2016, has “worsened” by seven points.  The result is based on a survey it carried out in six metropolitan cities.
In its Consumer Confidence Survey (CCS) report, released by India’s Central bank on February 8, said CCI reached 102 in December 2016, down from 108.7 in November 2016 on a scale of 100 a year ago.
RBI arrived at CCI on the basis of that the index it worked out for the current perception households’ perceptions of five different parameters – general economic conditions, employment scenario, income, spending, and price level and inflation.
The results show that the respondents’ perceptions for all parameters, except one, price level and inflation, deteriorated. While the survey report does not say why this is so, it is well known that, following the noteban, there was a sharp fall in people’s purchasing power, but it led to a relative deceleration in prices, particularly of perishable goods.
The survey, which carries a disclaimer that the “results are based on the feedback received from the respondents” and they “do not necessarily reflect the views of the RBI”, was conducted in six metropolitan cities – Bangaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi –among 4,752 households as respondents. 
Pointing out that households’ perception on economic conditions worsened, the survey data show, as many as 30.3% of the respondents said their current perception on economic conditions “worsened” in December 2016 as against 26.6% in November 2016 and 30.1% in September 2016.
At the same time, the survey shows, the perception on economic conditions remained the same for 24.1% respondents in December 2016, as against 26.6% respondents in November 2016; and improved for 45.7% respondents in December 2016 as against 49.5% respondents in November 2016.
General economic perception (% households)
As for the perception on income, the data show that 25.8% said it had decreased in December 2016 as against 17.2% in November 2016. The survey report says, the respondents’ “outlook on income” in December 2016 “one year ahead was also less optimistic than in the November 2016 round.”
On general spending, the perception of 5.6% decreased in December 2016, as against 3.2% in November 2016. In a further breakup, the survey found that on spending on essential items, the perception decreased for 4.7% in December 2016, as against 3.1% in November 2016. And, on spending on non-essential items, 18.1% respondents said their perception decreased in December 2016, as against 11.1% in November 2016.
The survey report says, “The level of optimism on overall spending was lower for both the current period and one year ahead. This was observed for both essential and non-essential spending, though the fall was more prominent in the case of the latter.”
On the employment front, as many as 39.2% respondents said their perception worsened, as against 31.4 per cent in November 2016. The survey report does not fail to comment, “Households’ current perceptions on the level of their incomes plunged in December 2016 round to a level not seen in the recent past.”
The report further says, “Perceptions on employment worsened in the current (December) round with the net response slipping into negative territory, reversing the improvement witnessed in the November 2016 round.”

Comments

TRENDING

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Powering pollution, heating homes: Why are Delhi residents opposing incineration-based waste management

While going through the 50-odd-page report Burning Waste, Warming Cities? Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Incineration and Urban Heat in Delhi , authored by Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran of the well-known advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability, I came across a reference to Sukhdev Vihar — a place where I lived for almost a decade before moving to Moscow in 1986 as the foreign correspondent of the daily Patriot and weekly Link .

PharmEasy: The only online medical store which revises prices upwards after confirming the order

For senior citizens — especially those without a family support system — ordering medicines online can be a great relief. Shruti and I have been doing this for the last couple of years, and with considerable success. We upload a prescription, receive a verification call from a doctor, and within two or three days, the medicines are delivered to our doorstep.

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.  

RP Gupta a scapegoat to help Govt of India manage fallout of Adani case in US court?

RP Gupta, a retired 1987-batch IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, has found himself at the center of a growing controversy. During my tenure as the Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar (1997–2012), I often interacted with him. He struck me as a straightforward officer, though I never quite understood why he was never appointed to what are supposed to be top-tier departments like industries, energy and petrochemicals, finance, or revenue.

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members.  As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

From SECI CMD to #OpenToWork: Gujarat cadre ex-IAS RP Gupta’s curious LinkedIn journey

Recently, I wrote a blog on retired Gujarat cadre IAS bureaucrat RP Gupta, with whom I used to interact during my Gandhinagar Sachivalaya days as the Times of India man. Written in the backdrop of the Government of India controversially easing him out of his position as CMD of the PSU Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a special purpose vehicle to promote solar energy, the title of the  blog  — "RP Gupta a scapegoat to help Govt of India manage fallout of Adani case in US court?" — is self-explanatory about the blog’s contents.