New Delhi:
Retail inflation fell to 5.02% in September, the lowest in three months, primarily due to a decline in food prices. This is below the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) target of keeping inflation below 6% for two consecutive months.
States with inflation rates higher than the national average include Rajasthan (6.53%), Haryana (6.49%), Karnataka (6%), Telangana (5.97%), and Odisha (5.87%).
Rajasthan tops the list of states with the highest inflation. It is worth noting that the Congress is currently in power in Rajasthan, where assembly elections will be held next month.
Haryana, where the BJP is the ruling party, comes second with an inflation rate of 6.49%. The three other states – Karnataka, Telangana, and Odisha – where high inflation was recorded, do not have BJP governments. Therefore, four out of five states with high inflation have non-BJP governments, according to the data.
The consumer price index (CPI) based inflation was 6.83% in August and 7.41% in September 2022. The previous low was in June this year when it stood at 4.87%.
According to the data released by the National Statistical Office, inflation in the food basket decreased to 6.56% in September from 9.94% in the previous month.
The RBI primarily considers retail inflation when formulating its bi-monthly monetary policy.