Rural slowdown bottoming out, gradual recovery in volume expected: HUL

The rural slowdown is "bottoming out" and a gradual recovery in volume is expected, helped by government initiatives to drive the economy there along with moderation of inflation, FMCG firm HUL's CFO Ritesh Tiwari said on Thursday.

Though the rural growth was still down 3 per cent in the quarter ended March 31, 2023, it is on the right path of recovery with overall commodities price moderation, Tiwari said in an earnings call.

"Everything is going in the right direction," he said, adding, with a good level of government expenditure to drive the rural economy, moderation of inflation and 6 to 6.4 per cent growth of country's GDP.

While talking about the overall FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) market, Tiwari said, "the latest three-month market numbers are 11 per cent growth but volumes are flat. This is a better sign for the industry."

Even if the volume is flat, he said, it is better "compared to what we had last year, about 4 per cent negative volumes in the previous quarter. So