Indian economy’s worsens in August as consumer segment flashes red: Mint tracker
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The Indian economy’s performance in August deteriorated from the month prior primarily as the consumer segment slipped into the red again, according to the Mint macro tracker. Weakness emerged in the producer economy and the external sector as well.
Seven indicators were below their five-year average trends in August, as against three in July. The number of indicators above their five-year trend, however, remained the same at seven, signalling some strong areas in the economy. The Mint macro tracker, which provides a monthly comprehensive report on the state of the economy, is based on trends in 16 high-frequency indicators.
The tracker has been running since October 2018. For each indicator, the value in each month is assigned a colour coding (red, amber and green) to denote where it lies relative to the five-year average (red denotes worse, amber denotes it is in line with the average range, and green denotes better). In August, all four indicators for the consumer segment—passenger vehicle sales, tractor sales, broadband subscriber base, and domestic air passengers—were in the red.
From the producer economy, rail freight traffic disappointed, and from the external sector, wider trade balance and labour-intensive export growth flashed weakness. The composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), core sector growth, non-food credit, inflation, real wages, and labour force participation rate remained resilient. While the consumer economy continues to struggle, hopes are hinged on the festival season to give a much-needed fillip to the segment.
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