Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Roiling resurgence: On the Consumer Price Index data

Roiling resurgence: On the Consumer Price Index data

The recent gains in taming inflation may unravel soon

The latest Consumer Price Index (उपभोक्ता मूल्य सूचकांक) data showing a resurgence (पुनरुत्थान) in retail inflation (मुद्रा स्फ़ीति) proves exactly why the RBI’s monetary authorities (मौद्रिक प्राधिकरण) have reiterated (बार बार दुहराना) the need to keep the policy approach firmly tilted towards ensuring price stability (मूल्य स्थिरता). With food prices becoming unmoored (unrestrained, unconstrained, uncontrolled, unrestricted, unchecked, rampant, runaway, unbridled) and spiralling up (increase rapidly; rise, surge, escalate), June’s CPI-based provisional (temporary, short-term, interim, transitional) inflation reading (figure, indication, record, measurement) accelerated by half a percentage point (प्रतिशतता अंक, दशमलव) to a three-month high of 4.81%. Inflation in the food and beverages (a drink, such as tea, coffee, liquor, beer, milk, juice, or soft drinks, usually excluding water) group, the single-largest constituent (घटक, तत्त्व) of the CPI that contributes almost 46% of its weight (larger number, bulk, lion’s share), led the resurgence, quickening (accelerate, speed up, step up) by 128 basis points (बुनियादी निर्देश) from May’s level to 4.63%. The food price inflation (खाद्य मूल्य मुद्रास्फीति) was broad-based (wide-ranging, comprehensive, all-inclusive, general) with 10 of the 12 sub-groups witnessing (गवाही देना, साक्षी होना) year-on-year (साल-दर-साल) increases: cereals (अनाज) registered 12.7% price gains (a general increase in the price of something), eggs logged (achieve, attain; register, record) 7%, dairy (relating to the products made from milk) experienced 8.56% inflation, pulses (edible seeds (chickpeas, lentils, beans). (dals)) posted 10.5% and spices (aromatic vegetable products (e.g. pepper) used to season/flavor foods) saw gains exceed 19%. Vegetables, with a 6% weight in the CPI and the third-largest of the food basket’s (a group of something (taxes, investments, commodities, etc.)) dozen items, though still in the disinflation (अवस्फीति, विस्फीति) zone at minus 0.93%, saw prices harden ((of price of something) rise, increase (and be firm at a higher level)) so drastically in June that the disinflation narrowed (diminish, decrease, reduce) by more than 700 basis points. Month-on-month, vegetable price inflation soared (rise, increase (rapidly)) to 12.7%, the highest sequential (happened in sequence/order/succession) rate of price gains in the essential food group since October 2021. Tomatoes were the main culprit (the reason/cause of a problem) with prices skyrocketing (rise, increase, escalate, mount; mushroom, snowball) by 64% from May’s levels. With the exception of three vegetables, including lady’s finger and lemon, in the 19-member basket, all the others including the most widely used potatoes and onions registered sharp sequential inflation.

That the year-on-year quickening (increase, acceleration, stepping up) in price gains happened notwithstanding (despite, in spite of, regardless of) a high base (a number used as the basis) — June 2022 saw inflation at 7.01% — is also a clear sign that price pressures are regaining a disconcerting (upsetting, discomfiting, unsettling, disturbing, disquieting, troubling) momentum (the increase in the rate of growth of something; strength, impetus). Core inflation (it is a measure of the total inflation within an economy, excluding commodities such as food and energy prices (which change frequently)), which excludes the food and fuel and light groups, still remained stuck at 5.16%, barely moving from May’s 5.17% pace (rate, speed). Of the non-food items, clothing and footwear, as well as health and personal care saw price gains that exceeded 6% in June. Education prices too continued to keep rising steadily. In the backdrop (situation, scenario, context) of monsoon rains showing an erratic (patchy, irregular, fluctuating, uneven) trend, the outlook (chances, possibilities, expectations, prospects, future) for the kharif crop (a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence) output will depend heavily on sowing (an act of seeding a plant or crop) shortfalls (deficit, inadequacy/deficiency; shortcoming/defect) being bridged (make a difference between two less significant) in the rest of July. As on July 7, while overall kharif sowing (monsoon crops; seeds sowing in the beginning (Jun) of the monsoon and harvesting at the end of the season (Oct) in the South Asia) was 8.7% lower than a year earlier, the essential staples of rice and pulses showed 24% and 26% shortfalls, respectively. And with oilseeds too reflecting (indicate, show, display, demonstrate, reveal, exhibit) a 14% deficiency compared with 2022 levels, there is a real risk that all the recent hard-won (achieved/gained only after a lot of effort) gains in anchoring (secure, fasten, attach, connect firmly) inflation expectations may start to unravel in the coming months. Policymakers must tighten (make stricter, make more rigorous, make more stringent, stiffen, toughen) their grip (control, stranglehold, domination (over something)) over prices to prevent the broader economic recovery from floundering.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.resurgence (noun)

Hindi Meaning - पुनरुत्थान
English Meaning - recovery, revival, rebound, resurrection, renaissance, re-emergence.

2.consumer price index (CPI) (noun)

Hindi Meaning - उपभोक्ता मूल्य सूचकांक
English Meaning - a monthly measurement of prices for most household goods and services.

3.inflation (noun)

Hindi Meaning - मुद्रा स्फ़ीति
English Meaning - simply meaning “cost of living”; increase of price level of goods & services and vice versa decrease of currency value.

4.monetary authority (noun)

Hindi Meaning - मौद्रिक प्राधिकरण
English Meaning - it refers to the institution responsible for managing the currency of a country, establishing interest rates, and controlling its money supply. The goals of a country’s central bank include stabilizing prices, fostering economic growth, and increasing employment. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is the central bank of India.

5.authorities (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्राधिकारी, अधिकारी
English Meaning - officials, officialdom, the people in charge, the bureaucracy.

6.reiterate (verb)

Hindi Meaning - बार बार दुहराना
English Meaning - repeat, say again, restate.

7.price stability (noun)

Hindi Meaning - मूल्य स्थिरता
English Meaning - no (drastic) change in the price of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. It implies avoiding both prolonged inflation and deflation.

8.percentage point (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रतिशतता अंक, दशमलव
English Meaning - the difference between two percentages is termed as percentage point. (for example: “Interest Rates Jump From 10% to 12%”. In this case, the interest rate increased by “2 percentage points” or you can say that the interest rate is increased by 20%).

9.constituent (noun)

Hindi Meaning - घटक, तत्त्व
English Meaning - component, element, ingredient, part.

10.basis point (BPS) (noun)

Hindi Meaning - बुनियादी निर्देश
English Meaning - a unit of measure used in finance to describe the percentage change in the value or rate of a financial instrument. One basis point is equivalent to 0.01% (1/100th of a percent). Used for measuring change in interest rate/yield.

11.food price inflation (noun)

Hindi Meaning - खाद्य मूल्य मुद्रास्फीति
English Meaning - the rise in the prices of most goods and services of food & related things.

12.witness (verb)

Hindi Meaning - गवाही देना, साक्षी होना
English Meaning - indicate, show, reveal, confirm, be evidence/proof of.

13.year-on-year (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - साल-दर-साल
English Meaning - year over year (for comparison).

14.cereal (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अनाज
English Meaning - a grain or plants that produce it (for example-wheat, maize, rice & etc.).

15.disinflation (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अवस्फीति, विस्फीति
English Meaning - decrease in the rate of inflation.

16.roiling (adjective)

English Meaning - churning, turbulent, stormy, unsettled, unstable.

17.index (noun)

English Meaning - an (economic) data figure reflecting something (e.g. price/quantity) compared with a standard or base value; pointer, indicator.

18.tame (verb)

English Meaning - control, curb, mitigate, moderate.

19.unravel (noun)

English Meaning - fall apart, fail, collapse, go wrong, founder, be unsuccessful, fall through.

20.Retail inflation or Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation (noun)

English Meaning - The change in the price index of the basket of consumer goods and services over a period of time is referred to as CPI-based inflation or retail inflation.

21.monetary (adjective)

English Meaning - relating to money/currency; financial, fiscal, pecuniary, budgetary.

22.monetary policy (noun)

English Meaning - monetary policy refers to the use of monetary instruments under the control of the central bank to regulate magnitudes such as interest rates, money supply, and availability of credit with a view to achieving the ultimate objective of economic policy mentioned in the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

23.unmoored (adjective)

English Meaning - unrestrained, unconstrained, uncontrolled, unrestricted, unchecked, rampant, runaway, unbridled.

24.spiral up (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - increase rapidly; rise, surge, escalate.

25.provisional (adjective)

English Meaning - temporary, short-term, interim, transitional.

26.reading (noun)

English Meaning - figure, indication, record, measurement.

27.beverage (noun)

English Meaning - a drink, such as tea, coffee, liquor, beer, milk, juice, or soft drinks, usually excluding water.

28.weight (noun)

English Meaning - larger number, bulk, lion’s share.

29.quicken (verb)

English Meaning - accelerate, speed up, step up.

30.broad-based (adjective)

English Meaning - wide-ranging, comprehensive, all-inclusive, general.

31.price gain (noun)

English Meaning - a general increase in the price of something.

32.log (verb)

English Meaning - achieve, attain; register, record.

33.dairy (adjective)

English Meaning - relating to the products made from milk.

34.pulses (noun)

English Meaning - edible seeds (chickpeas, lentils, beans). (dals).

35.spice (noun)

English Meaning - aromatic vegetable products (e.g. pepper) used to season/flavor foods.

36.basket (noun)

English Meaning - a group of something (taxes, investments, commodities, etc.).

37.harden (verb)

English Meaning - (of price of something) rise, increase (and be firm at a higher level).

38.narrow (verb)

English Meaning - diminish, decrease, reduce.

39.soar (verb)

English Meaning - rise, increase (rapidly).

40.sequential (adjective)

English Meaning - happened in sequence/order/succession.

41.culprit (noun)

English Meaning - the reason/cause of a problem.

42.skyrocket (verb)

English Meaning - rise, increase, escalate, mount; mushroom, snowball.

43.quickening (noun)

English Meaning - increase, acceleration, stepping up.

44.notwithstanding (preposition)

English Meaning - despite, in spite of, regardless of.

45.base (noun)

English Meaning - a number used as the basis.

46.Inflationary/price pressures (noun)

English Meaning - the demand and supply-side pressures that can cause a rise in the general price level; cost-push inflation, hot-economy, deficit finance.

47.disconcerting (adjective)

English Meaning - upsetting, discomfiting, unsettling, disturbing, disquieting, troubling.

48.momentum (noun)

English Meaning - the increase in the rate of growth of something; strength, impetus.

49.core inflation (noun)

English Meaning - it is a measure of the total inflation within an economy, excluding commodities such as food and energy prices (which change frequently).

50.headline inflation (noun)

English Meaning - it is a measure of the total inflation within an economy, including commodities such as food and energy prices.

51.pace (noun)

English Meaning - rate, speed.

52.backdrop (noun)

English Meaning - situation, scenario, context.

53.erratic (adjective)

English Meaning - patchy, irregular, fluctuating, uneven.

54.outlook (noun)

English Meaning - chances, possibilities, expectations, prospects, future.

55.kharif sowing/crops (noun)

English Meaning - monsoon crops; seeds sowing in the beginning (Jun) of the monsoon and harvesting at the end of the season (Oct) in the South Asia.