New Delhi: Retail inflation India declined to 5-month low in March. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based retail inflation stands at 4.85 percent in March. The reduced food prices is the main reason for this decline. Data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) revealed this.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based retail inflation was 5.09 per cent in February and 5.66 per cent in March 2023. Previously, CPI-based inflation was the lowest at 4.87 per cent in October 2023.
The inflation in the food basket was at 8.52 per cent in March. It was at 8.66 per cent in February. Food inflation constitute nearly half of the overall consumer price basket. . Fuel prices saw a year-on-year decline of 3.2% in March, compared to a 0.77% fall in February. The inflation rates in rural and urban areas stood at 5.45% and 4.14%, respectively, showing a decrease from 5.51% and 5.89% recorded in the same month the previous year.
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Prices of cereals increased to 8.37% from 7.60% a month earlier, while meat and fish rose to 6.36% from 5.21% in March. Overall, food and beverages inflation stood at 7.68% in March, down from 7.76% in February. Fuel and light inflation declined further from -0.77% in February to -3.24% in March, while housing inflation dropped to 2.77% from 2.88% sequentially.
The Union government has tasked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ensure inflation remains at 4 per cent, with a margin of 2 per cent on either side. The central bank has projected retail inflation at 4.5 per cent for the current fiscal assuming a normal monsoon. The inflation rate has stayed within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) tolerance range of 2-6%. Compared to the previous month’s decrease of -0.11%, the inflation rate rose to 0.16% in the latest period, on a sequential basis.
Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is a measure of the average change in the price of goods at a wholesale level or in the wholesale market. Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a price index that calculates price changes of goods and services that a consumer has to pay in the retail market. The monetary police of Reserve Bank of India is made after reviewing the CPI.
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