India’s retail inflation falls to 4.25% in May from 4.7% in Apr

The consumer price index-based (CPI) inflation in May was the lowest in 25 months. In April, it fell sharply to 4.7 per cent from 6.4 per cent in February on the back of favourable base effects, with softening observed across all the three major groups.

India’s retail inflation fell to 4.25 per cent in May from 4.7 per cent in April, government data show.
The consumer price index-based inflation in May was the lowest in 25 months.
Inflation in clothing and footwear was 6.64 per cent during May.
The index of industrial production, meanwhile, rose sharply to 4.2 per cent in April from 1.1 per cent in March.

It was for the second month in a row that retail inflation remained within the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s comfort zone of under 6 per cent.

The RBI’s monetary policy committee last week announced that the central bank marginally lowered its inflation projection for this fiscal to 5.1 per cent. Das said RBI’s monetary policy actions are yielding the desired results.

In April, RBI had estimated the CPI-based retail inflation at 5.2 per cent during fiscal 2023-24.

The central bank has projected the CPI-based inflation at 5.2 per cent for FY23-24, with 5.1 per cent in Q1, 5.4 per cent in Q2, 5.4 per cent in Q3, and 5.2 per cent in Q4, and risks evenly balanced.

The inflation price data are collected from selected urban markets and villages covering all states and union territories by the National Statistical Office.

The index of industrial production (IIP), meanwhile, rose sharply to 4.2 per cent in April. It was 1.1 per cent in March, NSO data showed.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)