This Year Festive Season Spending to Fall by 43%

Middle and lower income family will spend 43 per cent less this festive season than last year due to inflated prices of daily food items coupled with a high education cost and a grim job market scenario, a survey by Assocham found.

It highlights the spending pattern of 1,650 respondents from  different sectors like automobile, biotechnology, BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance), energy, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), information technology (IT), pharmaceuticals and real estate.

Over 67 per cent of Delhiites from the middle and lower income group family said the steep rise in the prices of daily food items, expensive education, less job chance and salary packages shrinkage over the last year will make their festive seasons dull this year.

The rural request has gone down by 48 per cent this year as compared to 2014 due to monsoon deficit, less employment avenues and low income,” Assocham secretary general D S Rawat said.

Over 65 per cent of the respondents said that if they plan to spend, it will only be in case there are high discount offers. Most of the respondents plan to cut down on personal overage or go bargain hunting to keep their festive budgets in control.