Business · Economy · 2 hrs ago
India’s Middle-Class Spending Boom Comes With a Growing Debt Bill
A 25-year-old restaurant worker in India borrowed to buy an iPhone he could not afford on his salary.
Navjot Singh earns 50,000 rupees a month, about $521.
A small loan made the phone purchase possible.
He later bought a PlayStation and television set, and took out loans for a wine and spirits course and a trip home.
His spending shows how borrowing can help people buy things beyond what their monthly income allows.
The broader issue is India’s middle-class spending boom and its growing debt bill.
A 25-year-old restaurant worker in India used small loans to buy items and pay for experiences he could not afford on his salary.
Navjot Singh earns 50,000 Indian rupees ($521) a month.
A loan enabled Singh to buy an iPhone, and he later took loans for a PlayStation, a television, a wine and spirits course and a trip home.
The article frames Singh’s borrowing as part of India’s middle-class spending boom and its growing debt bill.
- Who
- Navjot Singh, a 25-year-old restaurant worker.
- What
- He took out small loans to buy an iPhone, a PlayStation and a television, and to pay for a course and a trip home.
- When
- Not stated.
- Where
- India.
- Why
- His monthly salary was not enough to afford the iPhone, and the loans made the purchases and other expenses possible.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
He took out a small loan because he could not afford it on his salary.
He took loans for a PlayStation and television set, a wine and spirits course, and a trip home.
- Age
- 25
- Occupation
- Restaurant worker
- Monthly salary
- 50,000 Indian rupees ($521)
- First loan-financed purchase
- iPhone
- Other loan expenses
- PlayStation, television set, wine and spirits course, and trip home