Retail inflation rises to 4-month high of 2.57% in February
Business | March 12, 2019 18:03 ISTRetail inflation rose to four-month high of 2.57 per cent in February, mainly driven by higher food prices.
Retail inflation rose to four-month high of 2.57 per cent in February, mainly driven by higher food prices.
The decline was due to a fall in food prices and smaller increases in fuel costs.
The Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) deflation reversed marginally to (-)2.51 per cent in December, from (-)2.61 per cent in the previous month.
Even on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in October 2018 was lower than in the corresponding period of last year, when retail inflation stood at 3.58 per cent.
In October 2017, CPI inflation was at 3.58 per cent and it has remained above RBI’s targeted rate of 4 per cent since then.
The factors that are likely to impact inflation number going forward include volatility in the global financial markets, oil prices, MSP pass-through and staggered impact of HRA increases by states.
On MSP hike, RBI said there is a considerable uncertainty and the exact impact would depend on the nature and scale of the government's procurement operations.
The increase in inflation has reduced possibilities of an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank in its upcoming monetary policy review.
The drop in retail or consumer inflation was mostly driven by lower food prices, the government said.
The ease in the inflation number was mostly driven by lower food prices. However, the figure remains higher than the 4 per cent target of the Reserve Bank of India.
According to data released by Central Statistics Office (CSO), the inflation rate for the last month was mainly driven by steep hike in food and fuel prices.
The inflation rate stood at 3.63 per cent during the corresponding period last year. In October, the inflation rate was registered at 3.58 per cent.
Costlier food items, particularly vegetables, pushed up retail inflation in October to seven-month high of 3.58%. The Consumer Price Index-based inflation was 3.28% in September.
On a sequential basis, the country's Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) dropped to 1.25 per cent during the month under review when compared to 1.52 per cent in August 2017.
The current rate of inflation is the highest in five months.
Retail inflation in June fell to 1.54 per cent, as compared to 5.77 per cent in the same month last year.
The CPI based retail inflation stood was at 2.99 per cent in April 2017. In May 2016, it was at 5.76 per cent. The overall food inflation was in negative territory at (-) 1.05 per cent during the month.
Shrugging off the depressive effect of demonetisation, India's Consumer Price Index (CPI), or retail inflation, during March rose month-on-month at 3.81 per cent, even as factory output in the country contracted by (-)1.2 per cent in February.
Official data released by the government showed that the higher fuel costs drove up inflation to its highest level in five months.
The retail inflation rose to 4-month high of 3.65 per cent in February from 3.17 per cent during the previous month.
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