The economic slowdown seems to have hit where it hurts. No wonder, a majority of middle and lower middle-income families have decided to slash spending during Diwali, revealed a survey conducted by Assocham.
The survey on 'High prices dampening the festive spirit' showed that over 72% respondents from middle and lower middle-income families would be forced to slash their Diwali expenditure by 40%.
It also revealed that they would spend nearly 25% of their salary to buy sweets, gifts clothes and other goodies. Ahmedabad, incidentally, stood third in curtailment of the festive budget due to the erosion of purchasing power.
The survey was held from August to September in Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Chandigarh, Dehradun and others. A little over 200 persons were selected from each city. Delhi ranked first in curtailing expenses during festive seasons followed by Mumbai (second), Ahmedabad (third), Kolkata (fourth) and Chennai (fifth).
While 69% respondents said they would be spending less this festive season, a mere 17% said they would be spending more while 14% agreed to spend the same as last year.
The skyrocketing prices of essential commodities have left the aam aadmi hard pressed. Be it sweets, fruits, dairy products, vegetables or crackers, prices have shot up compared to last year's Diwali, said Assocham secretary-general DS Rawat while releasing the survey.
Agreeing to the study, Nimish Patel, the managing director of Shri Dinesh Mills, said the demand for garments was yet to pick up.
"We are expecting growth only in rural areas because of a good monsoon. But, in urban areas, the demand is likely to remain dull due to weak sentiment and high inflation," he said.
It further stated that the high-income group was neither affected by the fall of the rupee not by the double-digit food inflation. Majority of the respondents said they have planned to spend less this festive season as prices of gifts and traditional Indian sweets has gone up by 55% while saving has come down by nearly 15%.
via Business - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEmFn5PoTo0WHQsE85jXK9aZTpcXQ&url=http://www.dnaindia.com/ahmedabad/1897632/report-amdavadis-to-curtail-expenses-this-diwali-by-40pct-says-survey
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