Retail inflation rose to 6.93 per cent in July as deficit items became more expensive

(PTI) New Delhi, Ta. Thursday, August 13, 2020

Retail inflation rose to 6.93 per cent in July on account of higher prices of food items including vegetables, pulses, meat and fish. Inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 3.15 per cent in July, 2019.

Inflation in June was revised to 6.23 per cent from 6.09 per cent, according to data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO). The Reserve Bank of India has directed the government to keep inflation based on the Consumer Price Index at 4 per cent or below. However, since 2019, retail inflation has been above four per cent.

Last week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) did not make any change in interest rates to control inflation. The RBI also takes retail inflation into account when setting interest rates in its monetary policy review. Inflation in rural India was 7.04 per cent in July, compared to 6.84 per cent in urban India, according to NSO data.

Meat and fish prices rose by 18.81 per cent in July this year as compared to July last year. According to NSO data, annual inflation in food items stood at 9.62 per cent. According to the official, the NSO collected data from 1,054 urban markets and 1,089 rural markets to determine inflation for July 2020.