Rising fuel prices eating into non-discretionary, health spends: SBI report

The dent due to rising petrol and diesel prices comes at a time when most households across the country are grappling with higher medical expenses due to the Covid pandemic and rising commodity prices

The steady rise in auto fuel (petrol and diesel) prices has not only fanned inflation concerns over the past few months, but has also altered spending patterns of consumers. A recent report by the economic wing of State Bank of India (SBI) suggests that as consumers are spending more on fuel, it is crowding out expenses on health.

“Our analysis of SBI card spends indicates that spend on non-discretionary health expenditure has been substantially reduced to accommodate increased expenditure on fuel. In fact such spending has more than crowded out the spending on other non-discretionary items, like grocery and utility