Retail inflation eases marginally to 7.01 per cent in June

Retail inflation dropped marginally to 701 per cent in June mainly due to slight easing in prices of vegetables and pulses though it still remained above the Reserve Banks comfort level for the sixth month in a rowThe consumer price index CPI based inflation stood at 704 per cent in the preceding month of May and 626 per cent in June 2021 Inflation in the food basket in June 2022 was 775 per cent compared to 797 per cent in the previous month as per the National Statistical Office NSO data released on Tuesday The RBI has the mandate to ensure that inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either sideHowever retail inflation is ruling above the RBIs upper tolerance limit of 6 per cent since January 2022 As per the data the inflation print in vegetables eased to 1737 per cent during the month from 1826 per cent in May while for pulses and products it slowed to 102 per cent against 042 per cent However the rate of price rise in cereals and products moved up to 566 per cent from 533 per cent in the preceding month Inflation in the fuel and light category rose to 1039 per cent as against 954 per cent while that for fruits increased to 310 per cent from 233 per cent Last month the Reserve Bank in its bimonthly monetary policy review raised the benchmark repo rate at which it lends shortterm money to banks by a sharp 050 per cent to 490 per cent to rein in spiralling prices It followed an offcycle meeting on May 4 when the central bank hiked the repo rate by 040 per centGovernor Shaktikanta Das had said the global geopolitical situation remains fluid and commodity markets remain on the edge rendering heightened uncertainty to the domestic inflation outlook However certain positive developments such as expectations of a normal southwest monsoon and kharif agricultural season recent supply side measures taken by the government as well as lifting of palm oil export ban by Indonesia may help ease the acute price pressures to some extent he had said The RBI also raised its retail inflation forecast for the current financial year to 67 per cent from its previous estimate of 57 per centOn Saturday the RBI Governor while speaking at the Kautilya Economic Conclave exuded confidence that the price situation will gradually improve in the second half of the current fiscal He also said the central bank would continue to take monetary measures to anchor inflation with a view to achieving strong and sustainable growth The Governor said price stability is key to maintaining macroeconomic and financial stability and the central bank will undertake necessary measures for the sameThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever