It’s no surprise that the current pandemic and resultant economic slowdown has made people more concerned about their financial health. But a recent survey has found that as many as 90 per cent of respondents are concerned about their savings and financial future and 94 per cent plan to be more careful about spending.

A survey conducted by digital lending platform IndiaLends revealed that the pandemic has severely affected the financial health of salaried and professional individuals and 82 per cent of respondents said they are struggling to make ends meet.

The survey was conducted across 5,000 respondents.

“Ninety four per cent said they would have to be extra careful about how they spend their money in the next few months, 84 per cent said they were cutting back on spending, and 90 per cent expressed concern about their savings and financial future,” IndiaLends said in a statement on Tuesday.

The survey also found that people are more willing to take personal loans for payments of essential services, with 72 per cent respondents saying they would opt for such a loan in the immediate future to meet high-priority expenses such as debt repayment, essentials, medical, education fees, and home repairs & renovation.

Many companies have already implemented salary cuts and there are rising concerns over job losses as many businesses came to a virtual halt during the national lockdown and a large number of them are yet to restart operations.

Individuals are also tightening their purse strings in terms of expenditure and investments.

As many as 76 per cent of the respondents said they were in no position to consider fresh investments at this time.

According to the survey, 40 per cent of respondents said their focus on expenses for essential items would increase, while over 70 per cent said they would spend less on non-essentials, including entertainment, luxury and lifestyle in the post-Covid-19 period.

Only 10 per cent of the respondents said their focus on spending on luxury goods would increase and a mere 9 per cent said they would look at more expenditure on travel and holidays.

“Salaried individuals and professionals, in particular, are coping with the potential burden of job losses and pay-cuts. The impact on their incomes and savings has seen a growth in demand for retail loans,” said Gaurav Chopra, Founder and CEO, IndiaLends.

According to data with the company, 71 per cent of its customers had existing loans, of which 45 per cent had applied for a moratorium.