Consumer confidence improved in the September 2024 survey round compared to the previous round in July due to better perceptions about the general economic, employment, and income conditions, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Forward Looking Surveys.
The Current Situation Index (CSI) improved by 0.8 points to 94.7, though it remained below the threshold level of 100. Consumers’ optimism for the year ahead, measured by the Future Expectations Index (FEI), improved by 0.7 points to 121.4 in the latest survey.
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The survey collected current perceptions and one-year-ahead expectations of households on the general economic situation, employment scenario, overall price situation, personal income, and spending across 19 major cities. RBI’s latest round of the survey was conducted from September 1-10, 2024, covering 6,087 respondents. Female respondents accounted for 49.2 per cent of this sample, RBI said in a statement.
Moving to the assessment of the price situation, households’ median perception of current inflation declined by 10 basis points (bps) to 8.1 per cent when compared to the July 2024 round of the survey. Their inflation expectations for three-month and one-year-ahead periods moderated by 20 and 10 bps, respectively.
The share of respondents anticipating a rise in both general prices and inflation in the short term and one year ahead reduced vis-à-vis the previous survey round. Price and inflationary pressures eased across all product groups.
Optimism in the manufacturing sector for October-December 2024 (Q3FY25) improved in the September 2024 round of the Reserve Bank’s industrial outlook survey. Services and infrastructure companies continued to maintain a highly optimistic outlook for Q3FY25.
First Published: Oct 09 2024 | 7:11 PM IST
