2024-08-14 13:45:35
New Delhi: Two pleasant figures have come on the economic front. Retail inflation rate came down to 3.54 percent in July. It was 5.08 percent in June. At the same time, the country’s industrial production increased by 5.2 percent in the April-June quarter. A year ago in the same quarter, it had grown by 4.7 percent. This information has been given in government figures. Retail inflation rate came down to 3.54 percent in July due to softening of prices of food items. This is the first time in about five years that the retail inflation rate has come below the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) target of four percent. The retail inflation rate based on the Consumer Price Index was 5.08 percent in June this year. Whereas in July last year it was 7.44 percent.
According to the data of the National Statistical Office (NSO), inflation in food items stood at 5.42 percent in July. It was 9.36 percent in June. Earlier, the retail inflation rate was below four percent in September 2019.
RBI may reduce interest rate in the next meeting
The government has given the Reserve Bank the responsibility of keeping the retail inflation rate at 4 percent with a variation of 2 percent. After the softening of the retail inflation rate, a decision can be taken about the reduction in interest rates in the next policy meeting of RBI. While changing the policy interest rates, the central bank definitely keeps the retail inflation rate in mind. In such a situation, it can be said that the reduction in retail inflation in July is a positive sign. But, it would be too early to say that inflation is completely under control.
Industrial production also increased
The second news related to the economy is about industrial production. The country’s industrial production grew by 4.2 percent in the month of June due to the good performance of the mining and power sectors. The growth of industrial production in June last year was 4 percent. According to government data, the growth of the manufacturing sector in the month of June was 2.6 percent. It was 3.5 percent in the same period a year ago.
The mining sector grew at the rate of 10.3 percent during the period under review. The power sector grew at 8.6 percent. Along with this, the country’s industrial production growth rate in the first quarter of the current financial year i.e. April-June period was 5.2 percent. This is more than the 4.7 percent of the same quarter last year.
The National Statistical Office (NSO) releases monthly data measuring the performance of different sectors of the country’s economic activities through the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).