MUSCAT : Mohammed Al Balushi is working with a private company in Muscat. Ever since the start of the pandemic last year, he and his wife have been more thrifty with their day to day expenses.

“The one thing COVID-19 has taught us is to be cautious on our spending. We have nearly cut our spending on household by half compared to what we were spending before the pandemic,” Al Balushi said.

Speaking to The Arabian Stories, Abdulnasir Al Raisi, DGM — Premier Banking at Bank Muscat has observed that the spending behaviour of people have significantly changed during the pandemic. “Customers have become more cautious in their spending. Most of them are thinking to save for the future and they are becoming more planning oriented. Spending pattern have changed during the pandemic. We have noticed that people spend less for certain aspects. It could be for various reasons such as not being able to travel or buying luxury items or they are becoming cautious because you cannot predict what is going to happen next,” Al Raisi pointed out.

Al Raisi also advised people to start saving for the future. “Now a days people are anxious about their future, so we advise them to save and this can be a lesson to learn for everyone,” he said.

For Al Balushi who is living debt-free says a proper monthly planning on spending can save a lot. “We have always set aside an emergency fund for a rainy day even before the onset of COVID-19. If you plan your monthly expenses properly before the start of the month, it can seriously help you save a lot of money,” said Al Balushi who is a chartered accountant.

According to Al Raisi, the pandemic witnessed a surge in people moving to e-commerce platforms for purchase. “This is what we have seen. People are moving towards buying household or even lifestyle products through online and this has also helped them to plan what they need to buy. What we have also seen is those older age groups have also moved to using e-commerce platforms to purchase and this is good for Oman,” he added.