Cautious optimism
1 min read . Updated: 11 Aug 2020, 09:42 PM ISTOur salaried classes are reported to have suffered another round of job losses and salary snips last month. This could show up in jagged upward curves of sales in many markets
Two new economic indicators offer India some hope. On Tuesday, car sales and industrial production figures showed that our economic contraction has begun to ease. Car sales first. They fell 3.9% year-on-year in July. This small decline suggests that August’s figure could mark a return to positive territory. If so, it would confirm that demand conditions are improving. Similarly, industrial output may be on an uptrend. In June, our official index was down 16.6% from its reading for that month a year earlier. But this fall was not as bad as what we saw in May and April, when the index dropped 33.9% and 57.6%, respectively.
The numbers should bolster the government’s claim that our economy is on a revival path. Yet, it would do well to keep in mind that extreme uncertainty still prevails across sectors. It’s possible that July’s recovery in car sales only reflects a release of pent-up demand. Our salaried classes are reported to have suffered another round of job losses and salary snips last month. This could show up in jagged upward curves of sales in many markets. The economy seems to be getting better, but we can’t take this for granted.
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