Consumer sentiments fell in December

The return to normalcy in December 2021 was celebrated by the rich and not by the rest

Something seems to have snapped in December 2021. Consumer sentiments declined after increasing for five consecutive months. The Index of Consumer Sentiments fell by 4.4 per cent. The fall erased all the gains made during October and November.

This sudden fall is surprising. India, like the world at large, was taking clear steps to return to normalcy. Vaccination had made strides. Omicron was unheard of as a dreaded variant for a better part of December. Public transport had resumed. Travel and tourism was picking up. Theatres had opened. Weddings, parties, pilgrimages and political rallies had all swung back into action.