Credit cards, Gold ETFs: How India spent and saved during Covid-19 lockdown

The Covid-19 pandemic triggered a two-month nation-wide shutdown towards the end of March 2020 and brought all economic activity to a near standstill. Over these two months, while companies went back to the drawing board to redefine and work under the 'new normal', employees across organisations suffered pay cuts and job losses.

Despite the government’s efforts to stem the economic fallout of the pandemic, the fall in income levels triggered a fall in consumption/spending as people spent mostly on essentials and purchase of big-ticket items was put on a backburner. Maruti Suzuki India, for instance, reported zero sales in the