Retail inflation inches up marginally to 3.21 pc in August

New Delhi, Sep. 12 (PTI): Retail inflation inched up marginally to 3.21 per cent in August from 3.15 per cent in July, mainly due to costlier food items, showed the official data released on Thursday. However, inflation number still remains within the Reserve Bank's comfort level. The rate of price rise in the food basket was 2.99 per cent in August, up from 2.36 per cent in the previous month, as per the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation. The CPI-based inflation was 3.69 per cent in August 2018. The RBI, which mainly factors in CPI while arriving at its bi-monthly monetary policy, has been asked by the government to keep inflation at around 4 per cent.