Retail Inflation Rises To 3-Month High Of 6.52 Per Cent In January: Govt Data

In the latest RBI MPC, Governor Shaktikanta Das said the inflation is projected at 6.5 per cent for the current financial year 2022-23

India's Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation in January rose to a three-month high of 6.52 per cent, its highest simce October. The retail inflation in January has crossed the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) tolerance band of 2-6 per cent, according to the latest data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Monday.

The CPI or the retail inflation in December eased marginally to one-year low of 5.72 per cent, with core inflation at 6.10 per cent.

The retail inflation, also called consumer price index (CPI), tracks the change in retail prices of goods and services which households purchase for their daily consumption.

In rural India, the inflation rose to 6.85 per cent. In urban parts of the country, it was up 6 per cent. The food inflation was recorded at 5.94 per cent as compared to 5.43 per cent an year ago. It was also higher than 4.19 per cent recorded in December 2022.

The jump in headline inflation in January was led by food components, whose inflation shot up to 5.94 per cent from 4.19 per cent in December.

The price data are collected from selected 1,114 urban markets and 1,181 villages covering all States/UTs by the NSO.

In the latest RBI MPC, Governor Shaktikanta Das said the retail inflation is expected to average 5.6 per cent in the 4th quarter of 2023-24. "Core inflation remains sticky," he pointed out. The CPI inflation seen at 5.3 per cent in FY24, Das said. The inflation forecasts assume the price of India's crude oil basket at $95 per barrel.

The governor said that inflation is projected at 6.5 per cent for the current financial year 2022-23. "On the assumption of a normal monsoon, CPI inflation is projected at 5.3 per cent for 2023-24," Das said.

Earlier, a Reuters poll had predicted the inflation in January to rise to 5.9 per cent from 5.72 per cent in December. It, however, said that the inflation easing continued in the wholesale prices. Wholesale inflation likely slowed to 4.54 per cent in January from a year ago, down from 4.95 per cent in December, it added.