Inflation to start moderating from Sept onwards, says RBI Guv Das

Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said the central bank expects inflation to moderate from September onwards.

The RBI Governor said that while citing a fall in the prices of vegetables like tomatoes, restrictions imposed on the export of non-basmati rice and cut in the prices of domestic LPG cylinders.

Das was addressing a programme at Devi Ahilya University here.

"We expect overall inflation to start moderating from September onwards. August inflation will be again very high, but we expect from September onwards inflation to go down, he said.

Das said that the prices of tomatoes have already fallen and retail prices of other vegetables are also expected to come down from this month.

The RBI Governor said the government has taken several steps to ensure the supply of tomatoes and other items of common need to the people at affordable prices.

"The restrictions have been imposed on the export of non-basmati rice. The prices of domestic LPG cylinders have been cut recently," he said.

According to government data, retail inflation had gone up to 7.44 per cent in July, which was its highest level in the last 15 months.

Das said that the rate of (retail) inflation was at a very high level in July.

Everyone was surprised by this. But mainly due to high prices of tomatoes and other vegetables, we were expecting that it would be substantially higher in July, he said.