Retail Inflation Eases To 5.59% In July, Courtesy Softening Food Prices

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation was 6.26 percent in June this year and 6.73 percent in July 2020.

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New Delhi: The retail inflation eased to 5.59 percent in July primarily due to softening food prices, said an official data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Thursday.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation was 6.26 percent in June this year and 6.73 percent in July 2020.

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The retail inflation climbed to 6.26 percent on the back of high fuel prices and rising vegetable prices.

The inflation in the food basket slowed down to 3.96 percent in July from 5.15 percent in June, as per the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had earlier on August 6 projected the CPI inflation at 5.7 per cent during 2021-22 -- 5.9 percent in the second quarter, 5.3 percent in third and 5.8 percent in the fourth quarter of the fiscal, with risks broadly balanced.

The CPI inflation for Q1:2022-23 is projected at 5.1 percent, the RBI said in a release.

Mandated by the Centre to keep the retail inflation at 4 percent with 2 percent margin on either side, the RBI mainly factors in the CPI-based inflation while deciding its bi-monthly monetary policy, PTI reported.