CPI: Retail Inflation In June Grows At 6.09%; Breaches RBI Target

India's retail inflation, measured by consumer price index (CPI) grew at 6.09 percent for the month of June, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Monday. In comparison, CPI in June 2019 was 3.18 percent.

Due to lockdown and other inconvenience due to COVID-19, the government had not released data for the months of April and May. However, in April, it had revised the CPI data for the month of March to 5.84 percent from 5.91 percent.

Retail Inflation has breached RBI's upper margin limit of 6 percent. As per the central bank's monetary policy, the central government has set 4 percent as the CPI target for the period from 5 August 2016 to 31 March 2021 with the upper tolerance limit of 6 percent and the lower tolerance limit of 2 percent.

In June, food inflation eased to 7.87 percent as lockdown restriction eased, ensuring supply. The CFPI (Consumer Food Price Index) for May was revised to 9.20 percent, the data showed.

Retail inflation growth was due to a rise in pulses and products prices that saw a 16.68 percent rise when compared to June 2019. Apart from pulses and products segment, the meat and fish segment saw a rise of 16.22 percent, while that of oils and fats rose 12.27 percent and spices prices gained 11.74 percent.