The future of Indian consumer markets
Consumption kept the Indian economy going long after investment slowed, but over the past year, even this narrative has started to fray at the edges Will consumer spending in India shake off its sluggishness and go back to growing at a fast clip and in turn drive economic growth? The short-term answer of the next two years is that (1) the richer parts of it will step up spending in the next year and be the vanguard of growth, and since they account for at least 40% of all spending and over half of income, this is good news, and (2) however, we must be careful not to fall into our oft-repeated trap—assuming that the yo-yo upward growth that we are about to see as a result of release in pent-up demand is the right growth number to project for the future. The medium-term answer of the next five years […]