Explore Business Standard
Household savings are likely to rise in fiscal 2023-24, an arm of a domestic rating agency said on Tuesday. Crisil Market Intelligence and Analytics said there are "early indicators", which show that household savings would have revived in FY24, while growth in household liabilities would have moderated. "Proxy data suggest a rebound in the overall savings rate in FY24, with contribution from households," it said in a note, adding that household savings constitute 60 per cent of the total savings in the economy. It can be noted that official data released last year showed a dramatic fall in India's net financial household savings rate to a 47-year-low of 5.3 per cent from 7.3 per cent in FY22. The Crisil report explained that households have been borrowing at a faster pace than they have been saving since the pandemic, due to which the net household financial savings, which was arrived at by adjusting financial savings for liabilities. Factors like retail credit push by banks and
Government think tank NITI Aayog has pitched for tax reforms, mandatory saving plan, and housing plan for elderly in India, as the population of senior citizens is projected to reach 19.5 per cent of the country's population by 2050. In a report titled 'Senior Care Reforms in India - Reimagining the Senior Care Paradigm', NITI Aayog said a national portal for senior care must be developed for senior citizens to provide easy access of services to them. "Since the social security framework in India is limited, most seniors depend on the income generated from their savings. Variable interest rates result in the erosion of their income, sometimes even below sustenance levels. "Therefore, a regulatory mechanism is required to set a viable base rate for the interest accrued on senior citizen deposits," the report said. The report emphasised that giving a further concession to older women will contribute to their financial well-being. The elderly in India currently comprises a little ove
The household savings rate plummeted to a five-decade low in 2022-23 as people started spending after the restrictions on movement ended after the pandemic, the Reserve Bank of India said on Friday. Deputy Governor Michael Patra said the dip in net financial savings of households to 5.1 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in FY23 also includes an increase in liabilities, much of which are home loans that will show as investments in the next year. When asked if the decline in savings to a 47-year-low is indicative of over-leverage among the households, Patra reminded that historically, the average household savings rate was about 7.5 per cent but during the pandemic, it had gone up due to a variety of factors, including inability to spend due to the restrictions and also because of precaution savings. "as these movement restrictions were removed, people went out to spend and started to draw down those precaution savings. That is some of the phenomenon that we're seeing now,"
The finance ministry on Thursday dismissed the criticism over the impact of declining household savings on the economy, saying people are investing in different financial products and "there is no distress". The statement posted on X by the ministry brushed aside critical voices raised with regard to the decadal fall in household savings and its overall effect on the economy. "Lately, critical voices have been raised w.r.t. to household savings and its overall effect on the economy. However, data indicates that changing consumer preference for different financial products is the real reason for the household savings and there is no distress as is being circulated in some circles," it said. Net household savings declined to a 47-year low of 5.1 per cent of gross domestic product in FY23 as compared to 7.2 per cent recorded in the previous year, as per the data released by the Reserve Bank in its latest monthly bulletin. At the same time, annual financial liabilities of households ro