When trade depends on weddings

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), a traders’ body, on Saturday said retail trade suffered this festive season because of the twin blows of demonetisation and the hardships caused by the roll-out of the goods and services tax (GST). It said trade was lower by nearly 40 per cent compared to last year. So traders were now looking at the wedding season for trade to pick up, said CAIT. The wedding season begins from October 31 and lasts until December 14; after a month-long break it resumes from January 15.