Page 35 - Inflation

Varanasi grocer hires bouncers to guard tomatoes as prices continue to soar

A vegetable seller in the Lanka area of Varanasi has deployed two bouncers to prevent buyers from getting aggressive while haggling the tomato prices, which have soared almost across the country, virtually making them a luxury item. Ajay Fauji, a Samajwadi Party worker, had earlier cut a tomato-shaped cake in Varanasi on the birthday of Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav. "I kept hearing about arguments over the tomato price among people. People at my shop too tried to haggle. So to put an end to the constant arguments, I decided to deploy bouncers in uniform at my cart," Fauji told PTI. Fauji, who is selling tomatoes at Rs 140-160 per kg, has bouncers deployed at his cart from 9 am to 5 pm. He, however, refused to reveal how much he hired them for. "No one will provide bouncers free of cost." Asked how keeping bouncers at his cart has helped him, Fauji said even though people are coming in same numbers, they are less militant about the pricing now. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav

Crypto wrap: Market highly volatile amid mixed signals from macro data

In the last few weeks, the market was witnessing a bull run after the news emerged of several big entities showing their interest in Bitcoin but in the later part of the week, the market saw a sell-of

UN world food price index hit almost 2 years low at 122.3 points in June

The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) price index, which tracks the most globally-traded food commodities, averaged 122.3 points in June

No respite, tomato price further shoots up to Rs 162/kg in many parts

Consumers continue to see red due to pricier tomatoes as retail prices of the kitchen staple soared up to Rs 162 per kg on Thursday across the country due to tight supplies caused by rainfall in many parts. Among metros, retail tomato prices remained highest at Rs 152 per kg in Kolkata, followed by Rs 120 per kg in Delhi, Rs 117 per kg in Chennai and Rs 108 per kg in Mumbai, according to the data maintained by the Consumer Affairs Ministry. The all-India average retail tomato price was ruling at Rs 95.58 per kg on Thursday. A maximum rate of Rs 162 per kg was quoted in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh, while the minimum rate was Rs 31 per kg in Churu district of Rajasthan, the data showed. Tomato prices remained high in other major cities in the country. In Gurugram, retail tomato price was ruling at Rs 140 per kg, at Rs 110 per kg in Bengaluru, Rs 107 per kg in Varanasi, Rs 98 per kg in Hyderabad and at Rs 90 in Bhopal on Thursday. Normally, tomato prices spike during July-August t

Central banks set to diverge on rates as stubborn inflation stalks Fed, ECB

With another hike in interest rates anticipated by the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank for July, and some peers on a similar track

Consumer demand revival may take one more year despite moderating inflation

RBI's MPC said going forward, the inflation trajectory would be guided by food dynamics

Tomato prices will cool down in next 15 days; normalise in a month: Govt

Tomato prices are expected to cool down in the next 15 days with increase in supplies from producing centres and reach a normal level in a month, a top government official said, as retail prices of the kitchen staple shot up over Rs 100 per kg in major cities. Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh, in a media briefing, also said the retail prices of tomato in the national capital will come down immediately on improved supplies from Solan and Sirmaur districts of Himachal Pradesh. "The phenomena of price rise in tomato happens every year at this time. Every agriculture commodity in every country goes through a seasonality in the price cycle. In June, prices reached a high level," he said. Tomato is also a highly perishable commodity and weather vulnerability, which has become prevalent in the recent times due to climate change and other issues, has disturbed the supplies, he added. The secretary further said, "You cannot store tomato for a long time and transport it for a lon

Europe inflation falls to 5.5%, but that won't stop ECB rate hikes

Inflation in Europe slid again in June but fell too slowly to offer much relief to shoppers grumbling over price tags or to stop more interest rate hikes that will raise the cost of borrowing across the economy. The annual rate of 5.5% was down from 6.1% in May in the 20 countries that use the euro currency, the European Union statistics agency Eurostat said Friday. While that is a big drop from the peak of 10.6% in October, persistently high prices in the U.S., Europe and the United Kingdom pushed some of the world's top central bankers to make clear they are going to keep raising rates and leave them there until inflation drops to their 2% goal considered best for the economy. Consumers saw relief on energy prices, which dropped 5.6% after last year's crisis, while food price inflation was up 11.7%, easing from 12.5% in May. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and fuel and offers a clearer picture of longer-term price pressures, rose slightly to 5.4% from 5.3% the month

One in every 10 retail borrowers missing monthly payments: RBI report

According to RBI's financial stability report, the total of SMA-0, SMA-1 and SMA-2 in the retail advances in the public sector banks was 9.4% as of March 31

Inflation in Germany reaches 6.8%, while Spanish CPI hits 1.6% YoY in June

Inflation is pushing in different directions in Europe, rising in Germany and falling again in Spain, official figures said Thursday. German consumer prices jumped 6.8 per cent in June from a year earlier, up from May's 6.3 per cent, the state statistics office Destatis said. The figure was boosted in part by a widely used offer of cheap transport tickets last summer, analysts said. The increase in Europe's largest economy comes a day before the release of inflation figures for the entire 20-country area that uses the euro currency. Inflation in the eurozone has been falling from its peak of 10.6 per cent in October, coming in at 6.1 per cent in May. But that is still far above the target of 2 per cent set by the European Central Bank. ECB chief Christine Lagarde has warned inflation is persistent enough to warrant at least one more interest rate hike at the bank's July 27 meeting. Higher interest rates are central banks' chief tool against inflation. Meanwhile, lower food and ene

Prices of tomato, ginger soar in Jammu amid heavy rainfall, landslides

Poor crop yield due to heavy rainfall and landslides over the past few days here has hiked the prices of vegetables such as ginger and tomato, with consumers demanding government intervention to address the issue. The recent price surge due to a demand-supply gap has posed significant challenges for low-income individuals who struggle to afford essential commodities. With tomatoes priced at around Rs 120 per kg and ginger at Rs 400 per kg, people are being compelled to forgo these items, Bharat Bhushan, a customer, said. Bhushan emphasised the urgent need for government intervention to alleviate the burden of price hikes on poor families. Local vegetable vendors have attributed the low crop yield of ginger and tomatoes to the heavy rainfall owing to the ongoing monsoon. We have witnessed a price hike in ginger and tomatoes as the heavy rainfall has adversely affected crop production. Every monsoon, there is a price hike in vegetables, especially mountain-grown vegetables because o

Explained: Is greedflaition for real? Here's all you need to know

Recently, there has been an increasing consensus in Europe and US that Greedflation is driving the rising cost of living rather than just inflation, but what is this phenomenon

India's rating upgrade hinges on sustainable fiscal consolidation: S&P

MUMBAI (Reuters) - S&P Global Ratings could consider an upgrade in India's sovereign rating if the country's fiscal metrics improve on a sustained basis and inflation is persistently lower, aided by monetary policy actions, an analyst at the agency said on Wednesday.

Soaring tomato prices burn a hole in common man's pocket due to low supply

The sky-rocketing price of tomatoes in Uttar Pradesh is forcing the common people to cut down on their daily food menu

Markets have been over-optimistic in foreseeing rate cuts: Rahul Bhuskute

The biggest possible risk for Indian equities and for all asset classes globally is the possibility of delayed interest rate cuts by central banks globally, says Rahul Bhuskute, CIO, Bharti AXA Life

Popstars could be powering inflation as concert prices surge, fans pay more

Fans are shelling out a fortune for tickets to see the world's biggest music acts, including names like Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen who haven't toured for years

'RBI need not rush to ease rates unless certain of stable-low inflation'

Bhide's comments echo that of Governor Shaktikanta Das that a pivot can be considered when price-gains settle near the mid-point of its 2%-6% range on a durable basis

BIS warns the world economy at critical juncture in inflation fight

Despite relentless rate hikes over last 18 months, inflation in many top economies remains high, while jump in borrowing costs triggered serious banking collapses since financial crisis 15 years ago

Inflation is slowing down personal consumption expenditure: RBI report

Even if the central bank has not ruled out further interest rate hikes, bank lending and deposit rates have started to soften

Inflation is slowing down personal consumption expenditure: RBI paper

Inflation is slowing down personal consumption expenditure, which in turn is moderating corporate sales and holding back private investment in capacity creation, said a Reserve Bank paper on Friday. The paper, authored by a team led by RBI Deputy Governor Michael Debabrata Patra, underlined the need for lowering inflation to revive consumer spending and boost corporate revenues and profitability. The retail inflation based on the consumer price index (CPI), which remained above 5 per cent during 2022-23, is now on the decline and fell to a two-year low of 4.25 per cent in May, following RBI's monetary policy actions and government measures. "Recent national accounts data and corporate results when read in conjunction clearly show that inflation is slowing down personal consumption expenditure. This, in turn, is moderating corporate sales and holding back private investment in capacity creation," said the article published in the RBI's latest bulletin. The Reserve Bank, however, sai