KATHMANDU, Aug 18: Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has failed to control consumer inflation. According to the annual statistics published on Friday, the annual average consumer inflation in the fiscal year 2022/23 BS is 7.74 percent. It is 0.74 percent higher than the target of the central bank.
In the previous fiscal year 2021/22, consumer inflation was recorded at 6.32 percent.
According to the central bank's data, in the fiscal year 2022/23 BS, the price increase in various categories is as follows: the restaurant and hotel sub-group under the food and beverage category experienced a rise of 14.42 percent, spices prices increased by 12.50 percent, food and food products saw a rise of 10.70 percent, price of tobacco products increased by 9.88 percent, and dairy products and eggs rose by 9.23 percent.
Similarly, under the non-food and services group, the transportation sub-group saw a price increase of 13.50 percent, entertainment and culture 10.18 percent, health costs 10.01 percent, education expenses 8.79 percent and household goods 8.65 percent.
Consumer inflation moderated to 4.17 percent last month: NRB
According to the details, the annual point consumer inflation in June/July 2023 stood at 7.44 percent, whereas in the same period in 2022, such inflation was 8.08 percent.
For the fiscal year 2022/23, the annual average consumer inflation rate for the food and beverage category is 6.62 percent, compared to 5.69 percent in the previous fiscal year.
In June/July 2023, the annual consumer inflation of the food and beverage group was 7.38 percent, while in the same months of 2022, it was 6.89 percent.
According to the central bank, the annual average consumer inflation rate for the non-food and service group in the fiscal year 2022/23 was 8.62 percent, compared to 6.83 percent in the previous fiscal year.
In the month of June/July 2023, the annual consumer inflation of the non-food and services group was 7.48 percent. In the month of June/July 2022, the inflation rate of this group was 9.03 percent.
Moreover, in the fiscal year 2022/23, the annual average consumer inflation was 7.55 percent in the Kathmandu Valley, 8.00 percent in Terai, 7.56 percent in the hilly and 7.12 percent in the mountainous regions. In the previous fiscal year, these areas had inflation rates of 5.73 percent, 6.41 percent, 6.87 percent and 6.07 percent respectively.
In the month of June/July 2023 BS, the annual consumer inflation was 7.70 percent in the Kathmandu Valley, 7.48 percent in Terai, 6.98 percent in the hills and 8.19 percent in the mountainous regions. In the same month of 2022, the inflation in these regions was 7.38 percent, 8.32 percent, 8.41 percent and 8.84 percent respectively.
In the fiscal year 2022/23, the annual average wholesale inflation stood at 8.47 percent compared to 9.51 percent in the previous fiscal year. In June/July 2023, the annual wholesale inflation rate was 4.98 percent, whereas in June/July 2022, it was 12.74 percent.
