Retail inflation inches up to 7% in August led by food price rise

The consumer price index-based inflation is above the Reserve Bank’s comfort level of 6 per cent for the eighth month in a row

India’s retail inflation resurged to 7% in August, from a five-month low of 6.71% in July, led by a pick-up in food price rise faced by consumers to 7.62% from 6.73% in the previous month.

This is the eighth successive month that retail inflation has stayed above the central bank’s upper tolerance threshold of 6% inflation for the economy. Rural inflation which was at 6.8% in July, saw a sharper rise than urban inflation in August, rising to 7.15%. Urban consumers’ inflation rate moved up from 6.49% in July to 6.72% in August.