At 9.47%,Telanganahas the highest rural Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based in the country in October this year. Experts attribute the high rural inflation to increased demand for products and Services as well as a surge in prices.
According to the most recent figures released by theUnion ministry of statisticsand programme implementation, state’s rural inflation is 8.2% higher than urban inflation. However, the state can take a breather as the combined inflation rate (rural and urban) has dropped to 8.8% from 10% a few months ago.
Apart from Telangana, only three other states have rural inflation rate of 8% or higher for October. West Bengal is second with 8.6%, followed byHaryana(8.4%) and AP (8%).
As per central government, there is a failure in meeting inflation target when Average inflation rises above the target’s upper Tolerance level of 6% or declines below its lower tolerance level for three consecutive quarters. CPI-based inflation ranged from 6.3% in the March quarter to 7.2% in June quarter to 7% in the September quarter in the country.