Indian economy picking up steam; clothing retailers see sharp recovery

In the second quarter of fiscal 2023-24, available indicators point to a gain in quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) momentum on the back of domestic demand. Clothing and lifestyle retailers and shopping malls are experiencing a sharp recovery in sales across price points in the past few weeks.

This has raised hopes of a pick-up in demand through the rest of the festival season that began in August, and cheers for discretionary retail spending, the article notes.

Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the first quarter of fiscal 2023-24 came in exactly at the nowcast presented in the August edition of the State of the Economy document: at 7.8 per cent year on year (y-o-y) and just a shade below the projection of the central bank’s monetary policy committee, it said.

Significantly, this was led by domestic drivers—private consumption and fixed investment—which offset the negative spill from net exports.

A key lead indicator will be how inflation evolves, with expectations of a sharp decline in September, on top of the August ebbing, fanning optimism.

Looking ahead, India’s consumer market is expected to become the world’s third largest by 2027, with household per capita spending outpacing all other developing economies in Asia, the article added.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)