KATHMANDU, Sept 23: The country’s consumer price inflation soared to 4.35 percent in the first month of the current fiscal year, due to a hike in prices of ghee and oil in particular.
According to the ‘Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of Nepal’ released by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) on Thursday, the country’s inflation rate during mid-July and mid-August was 0.86 point percent more than the price hike during the same period last year. Food and beverage inflation stood at 3.86 percent whereas non-food and service inflation stood at 4.74 percent in the review period.
Nepal saw consumer price inflation dip to 5.01% in Magh
NRB records show that the year on year price of ghee and oil, non-alcoholic drinks, tobacco products and transportation subcategories rose 29.07 percent, 10.51 percent, 10.12 percent and 9.43 percent, respectively. Citing increasing prices of raw materials, traders hiked the prices of edible oil by around 65 percent last year, which however is still in an escalating trend in the domestic market.
In the review month, inflation in the hilly region jumped 5.63 percent, more than double the figure in the first month of 2020/21. Likewise, prices in the Kathmandu Valley, Terai, and mountains also surged 3.70 percent, 4.11 percent and 3.58 percent, respectively.
Consumer inflation in the last fiscal year stood at 3.6 percent, which was probably the lowest annual average price rise in the past two decades. The government through the budget has estimated the country’s annual inflation at 6.5 percent for 2021/22.
