Retail inflation for agricultural workers and rural laborers has come down to 5.96 percent and 6.08 percent in August. It was 6.17 percent and 6.20 percent in July this year. The All India Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Laborers (CPI-AL) and Rural Laborers (CPI-RL) registered an increase of seven points each in August, 2024 and reached the level of 1297 and 1309.
CPI-AL and CPI-RL stood at 1290 points and 1302 points respectively in July. The Ministry of Labor said in a statement on Friday that the inflation rate based on CPI-AL and CPI-RL for the month of August was recorded at 5.96 percent and 6.08 percent on an annual basis, as against 7.37 percent and 7.12 percent respectively in the same period a year ago. In July 2024, CPI-AL was 6.17 percent and CPI-RL was 6.20 percent.
Due to the Reserve Bank of India increasing the repo rate and maintaining it for more than a year, the inflation rate has come down. A few days ago, the retail inflation rate figures were released, which remained below 4 percent in August. Now the government has also released the wholesale market figures. The inflation rate (WPI Inflation Rate) based on the Wholesale Price Index has declined for the second consecutive month in August. Due to the reduction in the prices of vegetables, food items and the cheapness of fuel, the wholesale inflation rate has fallen for the second consecutive month. It was 1.31 percent in August.
The inflation rate based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) also decreased in July. It was 2.04 percent in July. Whereas in August last year it was (-) 0.46 percent. Similarly, the inflation rate based on the Consumer Price Index was 3.65 percent in August. Whereas in July 2024 it was 3.60 percent. If compared to August 2023, the level of retail inflation has come down by about 50 percent, because inflation was 6.83 percent then.
