New Delhi, Sept 12: India’s retail inflation fell to a 11-month low at 3.69 percent in August mainly due to a fall in prices of kitchen items, including fruits and vegetables, official data showed Wednesday. The inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 4.17 per cent in July and 3.28 per cent in August 2017, data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Reports inform that the CPI inflation was at 3.58 per cent in October 2017 and has remained above RBI’s targeted rate of 4 per cent since then.

Reports inform that analysts on an average expected the inflation figure to decline month on month in August 2018, with a sub 4 percent figure. According to reports, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg on Wednesday assured that government and RBI will take all possible measures to stabilize rupee.

In its monetary policy review on August 1, the RBI had increased its policy rate by 25 basis points (bps) for the second time in two months. The Central bank blamed rising inflation risks for the hike in policy rate.

In July, the retail inflation fell to a nine-month low of 4.17 per cent on account of slowdown in prices of vegetables and fruits, said government data. Based on Consumer Price Index (CPI), inflation for June has also been revised downwards to 4.92 per cent from the earlier estimate of 5 per cent, as per the Central Statistics Office (CSO) data released today

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 12, 2018 06:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).