Consumer Confidence Weakens in Covid April

Consumer confidence among urban Indians weakened by 1.1 percentage points in April 2021, amid a surge in Covid-19 cases in the country, as per a monthly Refinitiv-Ipsos Primary Consumer Sentiment Index (PCSI) survey.

Consumer sentiment was down across all 4 indices - jobs, personal finances, economy, and investments for the future, the survey said.

The online survey was conducted between March 26, 2021, and April 9, 2021. A sample size of 500 adults from Ipsos' India online panel aged 16-64 years were interviewed.

The monthly PCSI is driven by the aggregation of the four weighted sub-indices.

PCSI Employment Confidence (Jobs) sub-index is down by 0.6 percentage points, Current Personal Financial Conditions (Current Conditions) sub-index fell 1.5 percentage points, and Investment Climate (Investment) sub-index declined 0.9 percentage points. Economic Expectations sub-index slipped by 0.8 percentage points in the survey.

"The second wave of the coronavirus is in full swing and it is already starting to impact normalcy and livelihoods. Businesses had started recovering post the first wave, and now the new wave (which is more infectious) has already started to negatively impact the sentiment around jobs, finances for the daily running of households, savings and investments and the economy," Ipsos India CEO Amit Adarkar said. Refinitiv-Ipsos India Primary Consumer Sentiment Index is a monthly survey of consumer attitude on the current and future state of local economies, personal finance situations, savings, and confidence to make large investments.