Vegetables to become cheaper from next month but…: RBI chief on what may affect food prices in coming days
Shaktikanta Das stated that vegetable prices in India are expected to decrease from September, potentially easing the recent surge in retail inflation, which reached 7.44% in July, the highest in 15 months. "We expect to see an appreciable slowdown in vegetable inflation from September," Das said and for cereal prices specifically, added, “The outlook looks bright even though geopolitical tensions could hamper food prices" Das mentioned that despite higher core inflation, its recent gradual decrease reflects effective monetary policy transmission.
“The central bank would be on guard to ensure that inflation does not remain persistent and get generalised across segments" "The frequent incidences of recurring food price shocks pose a risk to anchoring of inflation expectations, which has been underway since September 2022. We will remain watchful of this," Das said.
India has raised rates by a total of 250 basis points since May 2022 to tame rising prices. The central bank remains firmly focused on aligning inflation to the Monetary Policy Committee's mandated medium-term target of 4%, Das said.
In a similar note, finance ministry official said that the government expects vegetable prices to start cooling off from next month with the advent of new crops in the market, but rising crude oil prices is a concern even though it is still within the tolerable zone of USD 90 a barre The official further said that reduction in excise duty is not on cards and the government is driving infrastructure investment, and private sector capital investment is yet to gather steam. He further said, as cited by PTI, that the Centre's capital expenditure which was 28 per cent of Budget estimates at the end of June quarter, will reach 50 per
. Read more on livemint.com
