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.
Prices of oils rose over 32%
The official data revealed that prices of products like eggs, edible oils, and non-alcoholic beverages rose sharply. While inflation in oils and fats was estimated at 32.53 per cent, the price of an egg rose by 20.82 per cent. The prices of non-alcoholic beverages rose by 14.44 per cent.
Inflation highest in Himachal Pradesh
According to the data, the retail prices in Himachal Pradesh witnessed the highest jump (7.89 per cent) compared to other parts of the country followed by erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir (7.81 per cent) and Telangana (7.70 per cent). On the other hand, Assam had the lowest CPI rate of 1.97 per cent last month.
