Consumer Confidence plummets in March 2019 by 6.8 percentage points: Thomson Reuters-Ipsos PCSI Study

Pulwama/ Balakot and war clouds play spoilsport

 New Delhi, March 18, 2019:  The India Primary Consumer Sentiment Index (Consumer Confidence), as measured by Thomson Reuters in partnership with Ipsos, has nosedived by 6.8 percentage points in March 2019.      

The monthly PCSI result which is driven by the aggregation of the four, weighted, sub-indices, has seen a sharp fall across all of them: the PCSI Employment Confidence (“Jobs”) Sub-Index, is down by a glaring 7 points; the PCSI Economic Expectations (“Expectations”) Sub Index, which has sharply fallen by 10.9 points; the PCSI Investment Climate (“Investment”) Sub-Index which has dropped by 6.1 points; and the PCSI Current Personal Financial Conditions (“Current Conditions”) Sub-Index which is down by a significant 4.9 percentage points over last month.  

“The survey was fielded in last week of February and first week of March, amidst tensions on Pakistan border. The near-war conflict sharply pulled down the already sliding consumer confidence. It once again proves that consumer and economy do not want war – rather afraid of it. This factor strongly clouded the fear around rise in inflation and lack of jobs. Since our respondents are largely urban – for the salaried ones it is also the time for tax saving investment, leading to temporary cash crunch. All these factors have a cascading effect, adding to pessimism,” says Parijat Chakraborty, Country Service Lines Group Leader, Public Affairs, Corporate Reputation & Customer Experience, Ipsos India.The Thomson Reuters/Ipsos India Primary Consumer Sentiment Index (PCSI), ongoing since 2010, is a monthly national survey of consumer attitudes on the current and future state of local economies, personal finance situations, savings and confidence to make large investments.

 

 

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