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Consumer sentiment eased for the third consecutive month in November as respondents sharply revised down their short-term outlook for business conditions, findings of a survey by MNI Indicators showed.
MNI Indicators is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Borse AG, one of the largest worldwide exchange organisations.
MNI India Consumer Sentiment Survey is monthly survey of consumer confidence across India.
In this survey, about 1,000 consumers across various cities are asked every month questions about spending, sentiment for buying house, stock investments and also their business expectations.
The MNI India Consumer Indicator fell by 2.8 points to 120.9 in November from 123.7 in October, the lowest in 13 months.
The recent weakness in the survey shows that the Modi government's policies have yet to have any concrete impact on Indian households' overall confidence.
Consumer Sentiment, which had picked up in the run up to the general elections earlier in the year, has failed to maintain the momentum, MNI Indicators has said.
The decline in consumer sentiment was led by a sharp fall in expectations of business conditions in a year's time.
Also, consumers were less confident about spending on big ticket items following the conclusion of the festival season.
This was in spite of consumers being more satisfied with the current level of prices, with a greater proportion expecting prices to fall in the next 12 months.
Even though consumers were more confident buying this festival season, it wasn't as if that it had changed a lot from last year when economic conditions were much worse.
Consumer sentiment hasn't shown a massive kick this festival season from last year's season, Shaily Mittal, Economist, MNI Indicators told Business Line.
"Consumer sentiment has increased from last year. But if you see in the last six months of the new Government that has come up, consumer sentiment has remained broadly stable", she said.
While businesses are optimistic about business outlook, consumers are still not optimistic about spending, she said.
Taking the example of a car, Shaily said that a majority of those surveyed felt that it was not a good time to buy a car.
"Many consumers still feel that their personal finances are weak and employment conditions are not stable.
Despite fall in fuel prices, they feel high interest rates are one reason to postpone buying decision on cars.
People think interest rates will come down further next year", Shaily said.
srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in
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