Geopolitical tensions, heat wave impacting food prices, especially of wheat, along with an overall increase in transportation costs due to fuel price hike have added to the surge in inflation rate, which had risen to a 17-month high of 6.95 per cent in March.
The LPG domestic cylinder’s price is raised by Rs 50 on Saturday. With the latest revision, the 14.2 kg domestic cylinder will now cost Rs 999.50/cylinder from today. This comes at a time when the retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (Combined) is likely to have risen up to 7.7 per cent in April.
After the assembly elections held in five states, the prices of petrol, diesel, and LPG are being increased continuously. On March 22, the subsidised domestic LPG cylinder increased by ₹50. Earlier, after 6 October 2021, there was no change in the rate of domestic LPG cylinders.
Earlier this month, the price of the 19 kg commercial LPG cylinder was increased by Rs 102 to Rs 2,355.5. The price of a 5-kg LPG commercial cylinder was also increased to Rs 655. In the last one year, domestic LPG prices have jumped by nearly Rs 200.
The RBI on Wednesday hiked repo rate by 40 basis points amid worries over domestic food prices given their sensitivity in India’s political economy. The RBI indicates that high frequency price indicators for April indicate the persistence of food price pressures. Simultaneously, the direct impact of the increases in domestic pump prices of petroleum products, beginning the second fortnight of March, is feeding into core inflation prints and is expected to have intensified in April. For the whole financial year, economists expect the inflation rate to be higher than 6 per cent, which is over the upper band of the medium-term inflation target of the RBI.
