Due primarily to rising food prices, retail inflation inched up to 7 percent in August, breaking a three-month downward trend, according to official statistics issued on Monday. Inflation measured by the consumer price index (CPI) was 6.71 percent in July and 5.3 percent in August 2021.
For the ninth consecutive month, the CPI inflation rate has above the RBI's 6 percent comfort level. When determining its monetary policy, the Reserve Bank takes retail inflation into consideration. The National Statistical Office (NSO) has reported that the inflation rate for the food basket was 7.62 percent in August, up from 6.69 percent in July and 3.110 percent in August 2021.
Vegetables, spices, shoes, and "fuel and light" all experienced price increases that above 10 percent annually. However, during the month there was a decline in inflation in eggs and an almost flat line in protein-rich "beef and fish." Prior to slowing down over the following months to 6.71 percent in July, inflation had peaked in April at a rate of 7.79 percent. The Reserve Bank has been given a mandate by the government to maintain CPI inflation at 4 percent with a 2 percent safety buffer on each side.
In July, India's IIP growth slowed to a 4-month low of 2.4 percent. According to official data issued on Monday, India's industrial production growth slowed to a four-month low of 2.4 percent in July, mostly because the manufacturing, electricity, and mining sectors performed poorly. According to the figures, March of this year saw industrial output growth reach its prior low of 2.2 percent.
IIP increased by 6.7 percent in April, 19.6 percent in May, and 12.7 percent in June. In July 2021, factory output as expressed by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had increased by 11.5 percent. According to data issued by the Statistics and Programme Implementation Ministry, the manufacturing sector grew 3.2 percent in July 2022 compared to 10.5 percent in the same month the previous year.
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