New Delhi, Aug 12 (Mayank Nigam) Driven by lower food prices, India’s retail inflation measured by consumer price index (CPI) dropped to 3.54% in July 2024 on annualised basis from 5.08% in the previous month, as per data released by Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation on Monday. With this, retail inflation has now dipped below the Reserve Bank of India’s medium-term target of 4% for the first time in nearly five years. The official data showed food inflation in the month of July 2024 fell to 5.42% from 9.36% in the previous month. Food inflation for July 2024 is the lowest since June 2023.
“There is a sharp decline in the year-on-year inflation rate based on the All India Consumer Price Index (CPI) number for the month of July, 2024, which is the lowest in the last 59 months. Year-on-year inflation rate based on the All India Consumer Price Index (CPI) number is 3.54% (Provisional) for the month of July, 2024. Corresponding inflation rate for rural and urban is 4.10% and 2.98%, respectively,” an official press release said. During the month of July 2024, downward trend was witnessed in inflation for all the groups. Significant decline was seen in the vegetables, fruits and spices subgroup. Commenting on the inflation numbers, ICRA chief economist Aditi Nayar said, “While eight of the 12 sub-segments in this group witnessed a lower YoY (year-on-year) inflation in July 2024 vis-à-vis June 2024, the chief driver of the downtrend was vegetables inflation, which declined quite sharply to 6.8% from 29.3% in the previous month, led by the favourable base. In MoM (month-on-month) terms, however, vegetable prices shot up by 14.1% in July 2024, after having risen at a similar pace in June 2024.”