Retail Inflation Rises To 4.91 Per Cent In November, Says Govt Data

According to the data released by the NSO, food inflation was at 1.87 per cent in November this year compared to 0.85 per cent in the preceding month

The RBI expects the inflation print to be somewhat higher over the rest of the year as base effects turn adverse. Representational Image

New Delhi: India’s retail inflation marginally inches up to 4.91 per cent in the month of November, mainly because of an uptick in food prices, the government data showed on Monday.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based retail inflation was 4.48 per cent in October 2021 and 6.93 per cent in November 2020.

According to the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), food inflation was at 1.87 per cent in November this year compared to 0.85 per cent in the preceding month.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which mainly factors in the retail inflation while arriving at its bi-monthly monetary policy, expects the inflation print to be somewhat higher over the rest of the year as base effects turn adverse.

According to the RBI, it is expected that headline inflation will peak in the fourth quarter of the current fiscal year and soften thereafter.

Core inflation, which is the non-food non-fuel component of the CPI basket, stood at 6.1 per cent against 5.8 per cent seen in the month before.

Last week, the central bank had kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent and decided to continue with its accommodative stance in the backdrop of concerns over the emergence of the new coronavirus variant Omicron, but it said that price pressures may persist in the near-term. This was the ninth time in a row that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das maintained the status quo.

But the RBI made no material changes to its inflation and growth estimates. It still expects CPI at 5.1 per cent for Q3 and 5.7 per cent for Q4 of this financial year and soften thereafter.