12 August,2026 05:36 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Representational Image. File pic.
Retail inflation based on consumer Price Index, rose to 4.45 per cent in July, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics on Wednesday.
The consumer price index (CPI) based retail inflation was 4.38 per cent in June.
The rural inflation stood at 4.84 per cent while the urban inflation was at 3.96 per cent in July. In the previous month, rural inflation was at 4.74 per cent while urban inflation stood at 3.93 per cent.
The CPI inflation is within the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) tolerance band of 2 to 6 per cent, with 4 per cent as the midpoint. During the monetary policy review, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra had observed that fuel prices had pushed the headline inflation and had kept the rates unchanged to boost growth.
The apex bank revised its forecast for average inflation in the current financial year to 5 per cent from the 5.1 per cent. The forecast for core inflation, which excludes food and fuel, was reduced to 4.3 per cent from 4.7 per cent earlier.
"The inflation outlook has improved, supported by a partial recovery in the monsoon and near-normal kharif sowing. Although crude prices remain volatile, we expect them to stay broadly range-bound, limiting near-term fuel-cost pressures. While inflation is likely to edge up from current levels over the coming months, primarily on account of food prices, it should remain below the RBI's upper tolerance band of 6 per cent. Against this backdrop, we expect the RBI to stay on an extended policy pause," Vikram Chhabra, Senior Economist, 360 ONE Asset said.
Food inflation in July rose to 5.52 per cent from 5.32 per cent in the preceding month. The prices of potato declined 16.56 per cent during the month while ladies' fingers, peas, and tomatoes witnessed a fall of 5 per cent in their prices. The prices of ginger, garlic and onions increased during the month.
Silver jewellery recorded the highest price rises across categories in July, registering a 109.84 per cent surge in prices and gold jewellery too became expensive, reporting a 32.98 per cent increase in prices. Cars also turned cheaper in July, with 6.72 per cent decline in prices.
According to the data, the year-on-year housing inflation rate for the month stood at 2.22 per cent.
"With geopolitical tensions escalating and crude prices firming, both CPI and WPI are trending upward; unless these conditions moderate, headline inflation is likely to stay on an upward path," Shashwat Singh, Fundamental Analyst, Bajaj Broking said.
