Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday cautioned that inflation will rise further and urged the government to act now to protect the people of the country.

Asserting that inflation is a tax on all Indians, Gandhi said record price rise had crushed the poor and the middle class even before the Russia-Ukraine war began.

"It (inflation) will increase further as: - Crude > $100/barrel - Food prices expected to rise 22% - COVID disrupts Global Supply Chain," he said in a tweet.

"GOI must act NOW. Protect people," the former Congress chief said.

Retail inflation hit an eight-month high of 6.07 per cent in February and wholesale price-based inflation soared to 13.11 per cent on account of hardening of crude oil and non-food item prices, according to government data released on Monday.

The rise in crude oil and natural gas prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, has put pressure on the wholesale price index.