Spending on essentials rises; discretionary spending slips: Report

Spending on essential household goods grew 33% in December - the highest across five months, a new report released on Thursday said. In contrast, spending on non-essential and discretionary categories such as air conditioners, cars and refrigerators grew 14% in December - the lowest growth rate in the August-December 2021 period, a consumer sentiment index report by data intelligence company Axis My India said. “The decline in non-essential spending is proof that consumers are apprehensive triggered by the new variant of the virus,” Axis My India managing director Pradeep Gupta said.

Overall household spending dipped by 3% in December compared to last month, the report added. It also said the majority of respondents surveyed for the report across urban and rural India believe the Omicron variant of the virus will impact the opening up of the economy. The report flagged that 82% Indians said booster doses should be given to citizens. It added that a majority of 71% respondents said they believed 2022 would be much better than 2021.

Thursday saw a single-day spike of 90,928 fresh Covid-19 cases, with a daily positivity rate of 6.43%. The Centre said India is witnessing a steep increase in the number of Covid-19 cases believed to be driven by the Omicron variant, and asked states such as Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh to ramp up testing and continue efforts to prevent any deterioration of the Covid-19 scenario.