Retail inflation softens to 6.71% in July with moderation in food prices

13 Aug 2022 Evaluate

With moderation in vegetable and edible oil prices, India’s retail inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) softened to 6.71 per cent in July 2022. The CPI was at 7.01 per cent in June 2022 and 5.59 per cent in July 2021. It was above 7 per cent from April to June this fiscal. The retail inflation is above the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) upper tolerance level of 6 per cent and has remained at that level for the past seven months. Besides, food inflation in July moderated to 6.75 per cent as against 7.75 per cent in June.

The National Statistical Office (NSO) under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in its data has showed that the Rural CPI (General) in July 2022 stood at 6.80 per cent as against 7.09 per cent in June. The Urban CPI (General) stood at 6.49 per cent in July as against 6.86 per cent in June. The index value for Rural, Urban and Combined CPI (General) stood at 174.3, 172.3 and 173.4 respectively, in July 2022.

As per the data, inflation in vegetables and ‘oil and fats’ in July moderated to 10.90 per cent and 7.52 per cent respectively. In June, the same stood at 17.37 per cent and 9.36 per cent, respectively. In July, fuel turned costlier with an inflation print at 11.76 per cent as against 10.39 per cent in the comparable period. The prices of protein rich ‘meat and fish’ and ‘pulses and products’ rose 9 per cent and 0.18 per cent, respectively, in July this year. However, eggs continued to show deflation at (-) 3.84 per cent as against (-) 5.48 per cent in June. The prices of fruits were costlier by 6.41 per cent in July compared to 3.10 per cent in June.