Retail inflation in July jumps to 7.44%, breaches RBI’s tolerance limit

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With the consumer price index rising to 7.44 per cent in July, retail inflation breached the upper limit of the Reserve Bank of India’s tolerance band of 2-6 per cent for the first time in five months.

india july retail inflationThe rise in retail inflation was mainly due to a sharp jump in vegetable prices, especially tomatoes in the last month. (File image)

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India’s consumer-based price index, or retail inflation in July jumped to 7.44 per cent YoY from 4.87 per cent in June, the National Statistical Office (NSO) said in a release on Monday.

The rise in inflation was mainly due to a sharp jump in vegetable prices, especially tomatoes in the last month.

With the consumer price index rising to 7.44 per cent in July, retail inflation breached the upper limit of the Reserve Bank of India’s tolerance band of 2-6 per cent for the first time in five months.

A poll of 53 economists conducted by Reuters had estimated the headline inflation would surge up to 6.40 per cent on an annual basis on rising food prices.

The consumer food price index (CFPI) surged to 11.51 per cent from 4.49 per cent in June. India’s rural inflation in July rose to 7.63 per cent YoY from 4.78 per cent in July, while urban inflation surged to 7.20 per cent from 4.96 per cent a month ago.

This comes after RBI in its August monetary policy review kept the policy rates unchanged at 6.50 per cent, but raised the forecast for CPI inflation for FY24 to 5.4 per cent from 5.1 per cent.

The central bank said the rise in inflation would be due to soaring vegetable prices, which are expected to rise further in the next couple of months.

However, the RBI said, “While the vegetable price shock may reverse quickly, possible El Nino weather conditions, along with global food prices need to be watched closely, against the backdrop of skewed Southwest Monsoon.”

First published on: 14-08-2023 at 17:36 IST



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