New Delhi:New Delhi: Retail inflation declined to 5.59 per cent last month from 6.26 per cent in June 2021. According to the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Thursday, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined in both rural as well as urban areas last month. With this, consumer inflation has fallen within the comfort zone of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The RBI has been mandated by the government to keep retail inflation at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side. Last week, the central bank raised the retail inflation projection for the current fiscal to 5.7 per cent on account of supply side impediments, firm crude oil prices and higher cost of raw materials.
Steep decline in prices of vegetables
According to the NSO data, the prices of vegetables declined by a whopping 7.75 per cent last month over a year ago. The data further suggest that the fall was much steeper in rural areas (10.58 per cent) than that of urban areas (2.81 per cent). Similarly, the prices of cereals also witnessed a decline of 1.75 per cent. Sugar and confectionary category witnessed a marginal fall of 0.52 per cent.