The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has painted a gloomy picture for the economy in its latest Consumer Confidence Survey.

The findings of the central bank gain significance as the country is headed towards general elections in the next few months.

The survey reveals that the consumer sentiment has taken a beating on the back of increasing concerns about lack of jobs. The RBI has uploaded the survey on its website.

The Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 93.9 in the latest gauge from 94.8 in September, the RBI said.

The country is grappling with a crisis in the NBFC segment, which pushed up lending rates and hurt demand for goods just before the festival season. It has also impacted the liquidity in the Indian markets.

The survey, that has 5,326 responses on households’ perceptions and expectations on the general economic situation, reveals that current sentiment on the general economic situation dipped further into the pessimistic zone.

The current perception of the economic outlook, at the end of November 2018, has dipped by 12%, the RBI survey says. According to the survey, 37.5% of the respondents think that the economy has improved, 23.8% think that it has downgraded, while 38.7% think that the situation has deteriorated.

On the prices front as well, the sentiment remained heavily negative with 96.3% respondents feeling that the prices have increased, while 90% think that the inflation has increased.