Background
Consumption expenditure is perhaps the most widely used measure of welfare and living standards. It is extensively used in such welfare measures as poverty and inequality. Its widespread usage is ascribed to its desirable attributes over other related welfare measures, such as income and wealth (Richard & Ian, 1995; Deaton, 1997). Current consumption is relatively stable over time and better reflects permanent income compared to current income (Deaton and Zaidi, 2002). It comprises several important dimensions of livelihood including basic necessities and non-basic wants (Hentschel & Lanjouw, 2000). It also shows the state of economic wellbeing that people are actually enjoying than income and wealth. Consumption is considered as a numeraire of economic wellbeing as raising lifetime consumption is the ultimate goal of any economic activity, be it saving or investment.