India’s performance better than US, UK, Germany in managing cost of living amid economic slowdown: Report

The world is reeling from inflation with food and energy prices going through the roof. Central banks across the countries are in the midst of a rate hike cycle while the cost of owning a house has skyrocketed. However, despite these macroeconomic shocks, India still stands "like an oasis in this era of uncertainty," according to the latest report by SBI Ecowrap.

The report compared the cost of living in India with the US, UK, and Germany and stated that if the household budget/cost of living was ₹100 in September 2021 across all countries, it has now increased by ₹12 in both US and India, but it has increased by ₹20 in Germany and ₹23 in the UK.

Further, the report noted that India performed better than the US, UK, and Germany in terms of food prices.

"What cost ₹100 in September 2021 across countries, now is up by ₹25 in the US, ₹18 in the UK, ₹33 in Germany, and ₹15 in India," the report claimed.

And in terms of energy prices, "What cost ₹100 in September 2021 across countries, is now up by ₹12 in the US, a staggering ₹93 in the UK and ₹62 in Germany and ₹16 in India".

The report made a comparison among the four global economies by adjusting each country’s exchange rate (dollar, euro, and pound in our case) to achieve parity with the rupee.

The Housing CPI index of each country has also been transformed with respective changes in exchange rates in comparison to the Rupee, it has been observed that the cost of living Housing has increased by ₹21 in the US, ₹6 in India, ₹30 in the UK, and ₹21 in Germany in the last one year.

"There has been a deterioration in cost of living in the aftermath of global mayhem, but India still performs significantly better compared with countries supposed to be the epitome of sound macro management," the report highlighted.

Further, pointing out the per capita income (PCI) of India with respect to the cost of living, the report observed that the PCI of the country in the past eight years has jumped by 57% in dollar terms.

The report added that the US job market is strong and the Fed may have to do a few more rate hikes to have a firm grip on labour market.

"India has remained remarkably resilient with 72% of the $14.7 billion capital outflows till July 29 in FY23 has already been recovered," it mentioned.