Mumbai, Oct 12 (PTI) The states with more number ofPradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Accounts have witnessed ruralinflation at lower levels, according to a report.
Since demonetisation, Jan Dhan accounts witnessed asteep growth and to date more than 30 crore accounts have beenopened.
Top ten states accounted for 23 crore accounts (75 percent) with Uttar Pradesh topping the list at 4.7 croreaccounts, followed by Bihar (3.2 crore) and West Bengal (2.9crore).
Nearly 60 per cent of Jan Dhan accounts have beenopened in rural areas alone.
"The data shows that the states where more number ofJan Dhan accounts opened, the rural inflation is at lowerlevel. This indicates that formalisation of economy hashappened," an SBI research report Ecowrap said.
There is both statistically significant andeconomically meaningful drop in consumption of intoxicantssuch as alcohol and tobacco products in states where morePMJDY accounts opened, the report said.
"This could be because of Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile(JAM) Trinity which has helped in better channelisinggovernment subsidies and helped in curbing the unproductiveexpenditure such as alcohol and tobacco expenses in ruralareas," the report said.
There is also increase in household medicalexpenditure in more exposed regions like Bihar, West Bengal ,Maharashtra and Rajasthan, among others, since October 2016due to changing lifestyles and increased demand for medicalservices, the report said.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) or retail inflationstood at 3.28 per cent in September as against 4.39 per centin September 2016.
The report expects CPI inflation to remain sub-4 percent till December 2017 and remain sub-4.5 per cent thereafterthis fiscal. PTI HVKRK.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.