Insufficient income growth may have pushed the Indian household to cut down on its consumption and the pattern of this consumption slowdown is “disturbing”, according to a recent report that takes into account both macro and micro data.

A Kotak Institutional Equities Research report says the next government may have to face the burden of reviving the country’s flagging economic growth. “The weak volume growth reported by consumer staple companies in 4Q (fourth quarter) FY19 underlines the slowdown seen in housing over the past 5-6 years and in automobiles over the past year,” the report said. “Housing demand has been weak for the past several years and property prices broadly stable. The overall expenditure on residential real estate is down meaningfully, which is amplified as a larger decline in the household physical savings rate in national savings data as the base has grown over this period,” it added.