New Delhi: India’s retail inflation rose to 7 per cent in August from 6.71 per cent in the previous month due to a sharp rise in food prices, according to government data released on Monday.
Retail inflation has remained above the RBI’s tolerance band for the eighth consecutive month. With headline inflation coming in above 6 per cent for the eighth consecutive month, the RBI is on the verge of failing to meet its inflation mandate.
RBI has been mandated to keep inflation in the range of 2-6 per cent. If the average inflation remains outside the range of 2-6 per cent for three consecutive quarters, the RBI is deemed to have failed in its mandate.
Retail food inflation rose to 7.62 per cent in August from 6.75 per cent in the previous month. There has been a huge jump in the prices of vegetables. Inflation in vegetables rose to 13.23 per cent in August.
In August, the increase in prices was faster in rural areas than in urban areas. Rural inflation rose to 7.15 per cent in August from 6.8 per cent in the previous month. According to data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI), urban inflation rose to 6.72 per cent in August from 6.49 per cent in July 2022.
Price data is collected from selected 1114 urban markets and 1181 villages covering all States/UTs through individual visits by field staff of Field Operations Division of NSO, MoSPI on a weekly roster.
During the month of August 2022, the NSO collected prices from 99.9 per cent of rural and 98.4 per cent of urban markets, while market-wise prices were 89.6 per cent for rural and 92.8 per cent for urban.