New Delhi: Amidst an increasing number of records of corona virus-positive cases. According to the government data, during March 2021, the retail inflation rate has been increased and it has reached 5.52 percent. In the previous month ie in February 2021, the retail inflation rate was 5.03 percent. If you understand in easy terms, the difficulties of the common man who are already facing inflation in everyday things including gas cylinders, petrol and diesel have increased. At the same time, industrial production has come down to 3.6 percent in February 2021.
The Indian economy has a double impact
The Indian economy has suffered a double impact of rising retail inflation and dwindling industrial production amid the Corona crisis. The index of industrial production in February 2021 recorded a decrease of 3.6 percent over the previous year. It has recorded a decline of 5.5 percent in the mining sector, 3.7 percent in the construction sector, 4.2 percent in the capital goods sector, 4.7 percent in the infrastructure sector. Apart from this, there has been a decrease of 5.1 percent in the primary goods sector, 5.6 percent in the intermediate goods sector, and 3.8 percent in the consumer non-durables sector.
Increased prices of these everyday items
The average food inflation rate of the entire country was 3.87 percent in February, which increased to 4.94 percent in March. The biggest increase in food inflation has been due to an increase in the prices of ghee, oil, meat, and fish. Ghee-oil prices increased by 24.92 percent in March and 15.09 percent in the prices of meat and fish. During this period, the price of pulses increased by 13.25 percent, eggs by 10.60 percent, and the prices of fruits by 7.86 percent. According to data from the National Statistical Office (NSO) and the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, the pace of inflation has been higher in the cities than in the villages.
Increasing prices in villages will be more average
Food inflation in March was 6.64 percent in urban areas and 3.94 percent in rural areas. The prices of other things also increased at a speed of 6.52 percent in cities and 4.61 percent in villages. It is clear from these figures that if inflation was not relatively low in the villages then the average figure would have been higher. Inflation remained above the RBI’s target of 6 percent for several months after the lockdown began due to the Corona epidemic in March 2020. In October, the rate of increase in retail inflation had reached 7.61 percent. In December 2020, after 8 months, the Consumer Price Index was reduced to 4.59 percent. In January 2021, it came down further to 4.1 percent. In February, the cycle of increase in retail inflation started again and it has crossed 5 percent.
The inflation rate is within the purview of the Reserve Bank
In February 2021, the consumer durables sector registered a growth of 6.3 percent and electricity consumption 0.1 percent amid a decline in all sectors. This is the fourth consecutive month when the retail inflation rate is within the limits set by the Reserve Bank of India. RBI has set a target to keep retail inflation within the range of 4 to 6 percent for the next 5 years. The retail inflation rate in January was 4.06 percent, the lowest level since October 2019. At the same time, the retail inflation rate was 5.03 percent in February 2021 and 4.06 percent in January.
