Consumers as political bellwether: What duality in sentiment may mean

If inflation cools, employment improves, and growth is above average, it is possible the current consumer confidence level will cross 100 again, for the first time since 2019, writes T N Ninan

One does not ordinarily look for political signals in work commissioned by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), but they do show through sometimes, even if unintentionally. A case in point is the periodic surveys of consumer sentiment in urban areas, commissioned and put out by the RBI. These seem to show that what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been able to do very effectively is to fill urban Indians with hope. Even if their immediate economic situation is difficult, or has not improved, they have become more hopeful about the future — in a way that apparently was not