KATHMANDU, March 17: Consumer inflation stood at 2.70 percent in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, almost one-third of the rate in the same period last year.
According to the ‘Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation of Nepal’ released by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) on Tuesday, the year-on-year inflation, measured in consumer price index (CPI), was moderated by 4.17 percent compared to 6.87 percent during the same period last year. While the food and beverage inflation stood at 3.02 percent, non-food and service inflation stood at 2.44 percent.
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The rise in the CPI has mainly been attributed to the spike in prices of fruits, legumes and pulses and ghee and oil in particular. According to the NRB report, the price of fruits rose 18.84 percent, that of ghee and oil rose 18.14 percent and those of pulses and legumes rose 10.41 percent.
The inflation in the Kathmandu Valley subdued to 2.12 percent from 7.58 percent of the review period a year ago. Likewise, the inflation in terai was down to 2.78 percent from 7.29 percent. Similarly, the inflation in the hills stood at 3.30 percent, down from 5.46 percent and that in the mountains fell to 2.05 percent from 5.28 percent.