Decline in household savings due to Covid

New Delhi: A significant number of consumers have indicated a decline in household savings during the Covid-19 pandemic due to job loss, salary cuts or delays in payments, says a survey.

According to the bi-annual Mood of the Consumer Survey by LocalCircles, in close to nine months of the pandemic many consumers are yet to recover from the giant-fall in their personal finance amid job losses and salary cuts. "Of the 8,240 responses, 68 per cent consumers said their household savings declined in the last eight months during the Covid-19 pandemic," said the survey conducted to assess consumers spending behaviour during the festive season, spending plans for the next four months, and household's expectations regarding earnings and savings situation by March.

The survey received more than 44,000 responses from consumers across 302 districts of India, of which nearly 50 per cent have plans to spend on discretionary products or assets in the next four months. "One of the big takeaways is that 10 per cent respondents plan to spend over Rs 50,000 on discretionary purchases in the next four months, while 21 per cent plan to spend between Rs 10,000 and Rs 50,000. This would mean good news for many sectors of the economy," it said. (PTI)