URUMQI - Authorities in northwest Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region will offer temporary subsidies to low-income residents to help them offset the impact of rising prices, the local government said Monday.

The regional government has earmarked 68 million yuan ($10.6 million) for the subsidy program that will benefit about 2.3 million people of different ethnic groups, a spokesman with the Xinjiang Autonomous Regional Department of Civil Affairs said.

The subsidies, up to 60 yuan for each resident, will be distributed in cash between Aug 29 to Sep 10, the spokesman said.

China's consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, shot up 6.5 percent year-on-year last month, hitting a 37-month high. The surge was mainly due to a 14.8-percent increase in food prices, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The CPI rose 5.4 percent year-on-year for the first half of the year, well above the government's 4-percent target for the year.

In Xinjiang, the CPI went up 6.9 percent year-on-year in July.