Nepal’s inflation reached a 70-month high in June and there are signs that it will breach the double-digit mark by the end of the fiscal year ending mid-July.
According to the Nepal Rastra Bank’s macroeconomics report published on Monday, the year-on-year inflation reached 8.56 percent in the first 11 months of the current fiscal year ended mid-June. It was 4.19 percent in the same period last fiscal year.
The food and beverage inflation stood at 7.43 percent while non-food and service inflation stood at 9.44 percent during the review period.
Under the food and beverage category, the prices of ghee and oil increased by 22.60 percent, milk products and eggs prices 11.22 percent and pulses and legumes 9.13 percent.
Under the non-food and services category, the prices of transportation increased by 25.79 percent, education 11.64 percent, and furnishing and household equipment by 8.30 percent.
“The runaway inflation means more people will drag below the poverty line,” said Keshav Acharya, an economist.
With increasing inflation, people have started cutting down on consumption as their income does not match the increasing market prices, according to Acharya.
