KATHMANDU, Dec 21: Consumer inflation stood at 4.05 percent in the first four months of the current fiscal year – owing to a spike in prices of vegetables and legumes in particular.
According to ‘Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of Nepal’ released by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) on Monday, the year-on-year inflation, measured in consumer price index (CPI), was moderated by 1.71 percent compared to 5.76 percent during the same period last year. While the food and beverage inflation stood at 5.73 percent, non-food and service inflation stood at 2.75 percent.
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The rise in the CPI has mainly been attributed to the soaring prices of vegetables and pulses. According to the NRB report, the price of vegetables rose 20.88 percent and that of pulses and legumes rose 13.70 percent. Likewise, ghee and oil were also expensive by 11.03 percent.
Gunakar Bhatta, spokesperson for NRB, said the increased prices of food items were mainly due to the soaring price of agricultural products in India.
In the non-food segment, costs of transportation and health service took a lead. Transportation and health services were expensive by 6.09 percent and 4.57 percent respectively.
The inflation in the Kathmandu Valley subdued to 3.39 percent, almost half of the rate of the review period a year ago. The inflation in terai was down to 4.69 percent from 6.04 percent. Likewise, the inflation in the hills stood at 3.64 percent, down from 4.56 percent. However, the inflation in the mountain inclined to 4.32 percent from 4.01 percent.
