INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Growth may recover in 2020, according to Nielsen.Sales of fast moving consumer goods in rural India had their slowest growth in seven years
as sagging incomes and a broader credit crunch weighed on spending in the country's hinterland, where the majority of its population
lives.Sales growth of corner-store items from tea to toothpastes dipped to 5 per cent across India's villages in the quarter ended
September, tumbling from 20 per cent last year, according to a Nielsen report released Thursday
Expansion in villages also dropped below urban levels for the first time, dragging the overall growth to 7.3 per cent, less than half of
what it was in the same quarter in 2018.The latest survey points to households across India reducing spending as Asia's third-largest
economy grows at the weakest pace in six years
Carmakers are already facing the worst sales in decades and this week Hindustan Unilever Ltd., the nation's biggest consumer goods maker,
said it wasn't seeing signs of a revival yet."It's been a pretty long time since we have seen" rural growth expanding at half that of in
urban areas, Sanjiv Mehta, chief executive officer of Hindustan Unilever, said on a conference call with analysts
"A hope is there that things should improve
But at this stage, we are not seeing a sign."The report has also found that the slowdown is far worse in the northern parts of India which
has a higher dependency on the rural segment and has seen a surge in unemployment rates.Growth may recover in 2020, according to Nielsen
Hindustan Unilever's Chief Financial Officer Srinivas Phatak this week said government's move to spur a revival may help boost
growth."We are now finally seeing early signs of the declining trends being arrested," the Nielsen report said which forecasts growth in
consumer goods sales to rebound as high as 8.5 per cent in March next year.Follow TheIndianSubcontinent for latest election news and live
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