Low income group consumers' sentiments buoyant about Indian economy: study

Kolkata: Home Credit India, which is a part of global consumer finance provider Home Credit Group, has said that sentiments of the low income population in urban and semi-urban spaces are quite buoyant about the country's economy.

The company in its annual consumer survey 'The Indian Wallet Study 2023' found that with the economy growing, income levels have increased for 52 per cent of the low-income consumers last year. A total 76 per cent are expecting their incomes to rise in the coming year. This has made the low income population buoyant about the country's economy.

However, despite the increase in their income the consumers are highly cautious when it comes to non-essential spending, the study said. The aim of the study is to understand the financial habits and sentiments of the consumers in the low-income strata within the urban and semi-urban areas. The study was made from a randomised survey of around 2200 respondents who are in the age group of 18 to 55 years with an annual income of Rs two lakh to Rs five lakh, residing across 17 cities including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and others and have taken loans.

On the savings front, the study showed that nearly 60 per cent of the low-income consumers favoured prudent financial behaviour by saving money after covering monthly expenses. The study also revealed the coping mechanism for emergency and mandatory expenses like medical costs among the low-income consumers. About 70 per cent of them meet their emergency expenses by dipping into their savings.