Richest 20% facing more inflation than poorest 20%: Crisil

The Crisil argument is based on the fact that the burden of inflation varies across different income groups, as the share of spending on food, fuel and core categories differs across classes

Extrapolating the retail inflation print for October, which inched up on-month to 4.5% from 4.3% in September, but steeply declined from 7.6% on-year, Crisil says the richest 20% of the population, who pay more on non-food or core items, suffered the most from rising prices in the month and the poorest 20%, who pay the most for food items and prices of which have declined, suffered the least.

The Crisil argument is based on the fact that the burden of inflation varies across different income groups, as the share of spending on food, fuel and core categories differs across classes.

According to the National Sample Survey Organisation's (NSSO) 2011-12 consumer expenditure, the poorest 20% of population spend majority of their income on food, while the richest 20% do so on core items.