The country’s retail inflation rate reached an eight-year high of 7.79 percent in the month of April. Retail inflation is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). According to the data released by the government (Ministry of Statistics) on Thursday, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 7.79 per cent in the month of April. Rising food prices and costlier fuel have pushed the retail inflation to an eight-year high. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Statistics, the rate of inflation in March 2022 was 6.95 percent.
Earlier, the retail inflation rate of more than 7 per cent was 7.34 per cent in September 2020. According to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics (MoSPI) on Thursday, the index of industrial production in India saw an increase of 1.9 percent in March.
This is the fourth consecutive month that the inflation rate has exceeded the upper limit of 6 per cent fixed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The government has asked the central bank to compulsorily maintain retail inflation at 4 per cent till March 2026. Last week, the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) suddenly held an off-cycle meeting where it raised the repo rate by 40 basis points to 4.40 per cent and the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points to 4.50 per cent. Of.
Tremendous increase in the prices of food items: The rise in food items is due to a sharp rise in oil and fat prices, which rose by 17.28 per cent year-on-year in April. Apart from this, the prices of vegetables saw an increase of 15.41 percent, spices by 10.56 percent and meat and fish by 6.97 percent. Readymade food, snacks, sweets grew by 7.10 per cent last month, cereals and products grew by 5.96 per cent and milk and products by 5.47 per cent.
Besides food and beverages, fuel rose by 10.80 per cent, clothing and footwear by 9.85 per cent and betel, tobacco and narcotics by 2.70 per cent. According to MoSPI data, India’s industrial output (IIP) grew by 1.9 per cent year-on-year to 148.3 in the month of March. The data shows that IIP grew by 24.2 percent in March 2021.
According to the data, the consumer food price index (CFPI) or inflation in food articles also rose to 8.38 per cent during April, from 7.68 per cent in March. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had said the hike in the repo rate and cash reserve ratio is aimed at curbing inflation due to global unrest in the wake of Ukraine war.