India’s consumer morale improves

With the resumption of economic activities, consumer confidence in the country has improved in July, according to the monthly Refinitiv-Ipsos Primary Consumer Sentiment Index (PCSI).

A statement from Ipsos said that the consumer sentiment index for India has moved up 2.6 percentage points in July 2020. In June, there was a minor uptick of 0.4 percentage points after steep falls in April and May.

The monthly PCSI, which is driven by the aggregation of the four weighted sub-indices, has shown recovery across all the four indices in July 2020.

While the PCSI Employment Confidence Sub-Index has minorly recovered by 0.7 percentage points, the Economic Expectations Sub Index has surged significantly by 4.9 percentage points.

Further, the PCSI Investment Climate Sub-Index has increased by 2.1 percentage points and the Current Personal Financial Conditions Sub-Index has risen by 2.2 percentage points, over June.

“Unlock-2 has brought some hope amid all the gloom of Covid-19. Easing of restrictions, some bit of normalcy returning with respect to the economy and livelihood, has resulted in the minor boost of optimism,” said Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India.

India’s forex reserves: India’s foreign exchange reserves increased by $3.108 billion during the week ended July 10. According to the Reserve Bank of India’s weekly statistical supplement, the reserves grew to $516.362 billion from $513.254 billion reported for the week ended July 3.

India’s forex reserves comprise foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold reserves, special drawing rights (SDRs), and the country’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). On a weekly basis, FCAs, the largest component of the forex reserves, edged higher by $2.372 billion to $475.635 billion.

Indo-Asian News Service