The Central Government is expected to publish the Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation data for August 2026 at 4 pm on Monday, 14 September, 2026. Generally, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s (MoSPI) National Statistics Office (NSO) publishes retail inflation on 12th of every month but as it was a weekend, so the ministry may publish the data on Monday. Albeit, there are suspicions that the government may not release the inflation statistics today as well due to Ganesh Chaturthi, but this looks unlikely as it is a restricted holiday and not a gazetted one. Analysts expect retail inflation to rise for the eighth straight month in August 2026. SBI pegs August CPI inflation print in the range of 4.8-4.9%. The bank says that restaurant inflation has risen sharply as onions, edible oil, and LPG have become more expensive. India’s headline retail inflation is expected to accelerate to 4.88% in August from 4.45% in July, driven by persistent food price pressures and a further rise in fuel inflation, said Union Bank of India in a report, according to PTI. For India, crude oil remains the most immediate external risk. Any renewed rise in crude, particularly if disruptions to Middle East oil flows intensify, could add to inflationary pressures. -Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder CEO of HST Wealth, a Research Analyst firm Retail inflation on the rise in India: CPI Inflation in India has started to rise of late due to the US-Iran war-led supply disruptions. The metric had edged higher to 4.45% in July, compared to 4.38% recorded in June. Retail Inflation may breach RBI’s 4% target for 3rd time in a row The inflation figures had remained below the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) target of 4% for 15 straight months till May. And analysts expect the inflation metric to breach the apex bank’s target of 4% for the third consecutive time in August 2026. Wholesale inflation eased marginally in July Wholesale price inflation had eased marginally to 9.78% in July from 9.87% in June. India’s inflation – What Sitharaman said? Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in Parliament on Tuesday, 11 August, 2026, that inflation rose due to commodity price shocks triggered by the West Asian crisis and high international energy prices. In the first quarter of 2026-27, retail inflation rose to 3.9% due to seasonal spikes in vegetable prices and concerns over the adverse effects of El Niño. By how much petrol and diesel prices increased during Iran war? Impact of Iran war on India’s inflation – What RBI said? Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will reassess growth and inflation dynamics at its meeting next month amid rising prices of crude oil due to the ongoing West Asia crisis, Governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Friday. Malhotra has said the rising crude oil prices will have an impact but it will depend on how much is passed through. Crude has gone up. July was for the Indian basket an average of USD 82 (per barrel). August it has gone up to USD 90 (per barrel) and so that will certainly have some impact, but it will depend again on the pass-through. -Malhotra to CNBC-TV18 The RBI in the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) August 2026 meet, had marginally revised downward India’s FY27 inflation forecast from 5.1% to 5.0%. Albeit, Governor, Sanjay Malhotra had alerted that there were still risks that inflation might again rise in India due to volatile crude oil prices and probable weather disturbances because of El Nino. Oil price – Iran war peak Crude oil prices had risen by 71% in between the Iran war from $70 a barrel to as high as $120 per barrel for a brief period. This has had a cascading effect on prices of those commodities that are especially shipped from the Gulf countries. As of Sunday, 13 September, 2026, the prices of international benchmark for oil prices, Brent crude stood at $104 per barrel. Eventually, August would be the eighth straight month of rise in the country’s inflation compiled under the new base-year series. Govt to roll out inflation data for 8th time under new base year series 2024 The August 2026 inflation data is going to be the eight time that the MoSPI would release inflation figures under the new series with base year 2024. Till December 2025, the Centre had rolled out figures of the annual percentage rise in prices of goods and services based on the old base year series 2012. India moved to new base year series for the 1st time in January 2026 India updated the base year for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to 2024 from the erstwhile 2012, with an aim to provide a more accurate measure of inflation based on current consumption patterns in the country. Post navigation Your home loan car loan may become more expensive:RBI likely to raise repo rate, says SBI citing report
