India’s consumer price inflation surged to an eight-year high of 7.79% in April, 2022, breaching the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) so-called tolerable limit of 6% for the fourth straight month, official data showed. Food inflation, which is driving the rise in retail inflation, rose by 8.38%, the highest so far in this fiscal.
The continued surge in shop-end prices will pile more pressure on the RBI to act more aggressively to check inflationary pressures, which have squeezed average household budgets. According to the latest inflation numbers, overall retail prices rose higher in rural India (8.38%), while in urban India, they rose 7.09%. Food prices too increased faster in the countryside at 8.5%, compared to 8.09% in urban areas.
Rising consumer inflation has increased the cost of living for average Indians, who are paying higher prices for a range of commodities, from fuel, electronics and transport to basic food items.
A rise in food prices relatively hurts poor households more because low-income households spend a larger share of their monthly budget on food. Cereals rose 5.96% as a heatwave in March crimped at least 5.7% of wheat output from 111 million tonne forecast in Feb to 105 million tonne, according to revised estimates of the government.
