Retail inflation declined to a four-month low of 4.87 per cent in October due to further drop in food prices, showed government data released on Thursday.
This marks the second consecutive month when the consumer price index or CPI-based inflation has remained within the Reserve Bank of India’s comfort zone of below 6 per cent.
The inflation based on the consumer price index (CPI) was 5.02 per cent in September and 6.83 per cent in August 2023. In October 2022, retail inflation stood at 6.77 per cent.
It may be noted that the previous low was in June this year when the reading stood at 4.87 per cent, following which it reached 7.44 per cent in July.
The drop in October’s retail inflation is in line with what economists had predicted, noting that volatile food prices, which make up about half of the CPI basket, had moderated, following a spike in July and August.
While retail inflation has fallen in October, both the RBI and economists remain worried in the wake of rising onion and crude oil prices as they can again lead to higher inflation in coming months.
