IndiaSpend

India’s Poor Are Eating Into Their Savings, Thanks To High Inflation & COVID-19

Rohit Inani
January 22, 2021
Gaurav Kumar Sharma is a heartbroken man. After the lockdown upended his livelihood for more than two months, he was relieved when things slowly returned to normal: Shops and markets reopened, and people began stepping out of their homes
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But as food inflation spiked due to supply chain disruptions caused by the lockdown, Sharma said that all his hope has turned into gloom
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"I drive [my autorickshaw] from morning to night, and all I save [these days] is ₹200-250 a day after paying for fuel and rent for the rickshaw," Sharma told IndiaSpend
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In December 2020, he was surprised that tomatoes were selling for ₹80 a kilo at the Mohammadpur mandi near R.K. Puram in South Delhi. That day, he did not buy his essential groceries
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Sharma's agony is shared by tens of millions of low-income and poor households in India as they grapple with a cocktail of economic woes
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As households dip into their savings because of either stagnating or no running incomes, economists warn of jeopardisation to economic recovery