Inflation in the 'fuel and power' basket in December slumped to 8.38 per cent, nearly half of 16.28 per cent.
The pace of retail price rise in January 2016 is the highest since 6.46 per cent in September 2014.
After unseasonal rains, supply disruptions and pandemic-induced woes pushed retail inflation well over the Reserve Bank's comfort zone in 2020, the scenario is likely to stay that way at least in the short term as economic recovery slowly gains foothold. For most part of this year, pricier food items pushed the retail inflation, based on Consumer Price Index (CPI), higher in the range of 6.58-7.61 per cent, except for March when the reading was 5.91 per cent. Experts believe retail inflation is likely to average around 6.3 per cent this fiscal and mostly will remain sticky going forward owing to pick-up in demand across sectors.
In case of onions, inflation skyrocketed to 127.04 per cent, while for the eggs, meat and fish segment the rate of price rise was 5.76 per cent.
The overall consumer food inflation in August fell to 5.91 per cent as against 8.35 per cent in July
The SBI report ruled out a October rate hike
Retail inflation in pulses and products category rose to a staggering 42.20 per cent in October.
The report, however, said it remains watchful of the upside risks to inflation emanating from pass-through of minimum support prices (MSPs), adverse movement in crude oil prices, volatility in global financial markets, lagged impact of the rupee weakness on input prices, adverse implications from fiscal slippage and staggered impact of HRA increases by states and its second-round impact.
Starting August, various festivals are celebrated in different parts of the country leading to higher sales of commodities ranging from sweets, fruits and food items
Among food articles, vegetable prices surged by 69.69 per cent mainly on account of onion, which witnessed 455.83 per cent jump in prices, followed by potato at 44.97 per cent.
Inflation rate in fuel and power segment was (-)16.50 per cent.
The states that witnessed high CPI-based inflation rates were Lakshadweep, Tripura, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Manipur and Mizoram.
For protein rich items such as meat and fish, eggs as well as milk and products, the inflation in May slowed compared to last month
In April, RBI had projected retail inflation to be around 5 per cent.
There are seven potential buyers, ranging from the Port Talbot steelworks' management to the UK steel industry investors Liberty House
The decline in retail inflation has been mainly on account of falling prices of vegetables and pulses
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday decided to leave benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent but maintained an accommodative stance as the economy faces heat of the second Covid wave.
Currently, the retail inflation is well below the RBI's comfort level. The government has asked the central bank to keep inflation in the range of 4 per cent.
Given the various risks to growth, one could argue for rate cuts to be deeper than the 5 per cent terminal repo rate that we are projecting at this stage, says Kaushik Das.
The fourth consecutive rate cut is expected to lower equated monthly instalments (EMIs) for home and auto buyers, and borrowing cost for corporate.
Oil, banks eneded the day in green while few in auto sector lost heavily.
The policy review observed that the moderation in inflation, excluding food and fuel, that was witnessed in the first quarter of 2017-18 has "by and large, reversed".
Retail inflation in April softened further and fell to a four-month low of 4.87 per cent.
Inflation pegs down currency value, re-allocates resources, reduces potential economic growth and leads to the attrition of gross domestic savings.
According to a statement available on the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation website, gross domestic product, consumer price index and index of industrial production will now be released at 5.30 in the evening.
Moody's on Monday slashed India's growth forecast for 2020 to 5.4 per cent from 6.6 per cent projected earlier, on slower than expected economic recovery. In its update on Global Macro Outlook, Moody's Investors Service said India's economy has decelerated rapidly over the last 2 years and economic recovery is likely to be 'shallow'.
Forex dealers said besides the dollar's gain against other currencies, fresh demand for the American unit from importers and a weak opening in the domestic equity market put pressure on the rupee.
"The main risk stems from the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the south west monsoon in view of the rising probability of an El Nio event around July-August, and its implications for food inflation," RBI said, as it kept the status quo on key interest rate for the third time in a row.
The Reserve Bank said it will launch inflation-indexed national savings securities for retail investors by mid-December.
In October, CPI inflation was 5 per cent.
Vegetable, fruit prices to be on the rise over weak supply, crop damage
The retail inflation, which is factored in by the RBI to arrive at its monetary policy, has been on decline since last month. The previous low was 5.54 per cent in November 2019. The government has asked the RBI to restrict the inflation around 4 per cent, with a margin of 2 per cent on the either side.
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Bankers need to take a call on whether they will allow technology firms to run banks or banks themselves will turn into tech firms, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The decline in inflation was broad-based across major commodity groups except housing and fuel and light.
The central bank is widely expected to increase the repo rate by 25 basis points on Tuesday to 7.75 per cent to fight inflation even as it continues to unwind its rupee defense steps, a Reuters poll showed.
NITI Aayog has been working on an action plan to relieve rural distress and energise the agricultural sector
CARE Ratings, in a report, said it foresees an increase in the retail prices of petrol and diesel in the coming few days, depending on how the oil markets react in the reduction in supply from the cartel.
Food inflation was 7.79 per cent last month, higher than a revised 7.47 per cent in May
The RBI, which has been keeping rates at an elevated level citing high inflation, wants it to come down to 6 per cent by January 2016.
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