India's retail inflation increases marginally to 5.69 per cent in December
retail inflation surged 5.69 per cent in December on an annual basis as against 5.55 per cent in November, data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation showed on Friday.
The number has remained within the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) tolerance band of 2-6 per cent.
In the December policy meeting, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) left the inflation aim unchanged at 5.4 per cent. In the August policy, the RBI MPC had raised its FY24 inflation forecast to 5.4 per cent from 5.1 per cent.
«There has been broad based easing in core inflation, which is indicative of successful disinflation through monetary policy actions.
The near-term outlook however is masked by risks to food inflation, which might lead to an inflation uptick in November and possibly in December...The trajectory of food inflation needs to be close-monitored,» Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor and Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) chief Shaktikanta Das had said while announcing the policy decisions.
Das had speculated that the inflation outlook would be considerably influenced by food prices. Food prices remain a big concern for the Mint Street as well as for the government particularly in the run up to the general elections next year.
A government official told Reuters recently that food inflation in India remains above New Delhi's «comfort» level, while central bank staff in a report said that high-frequency food price data up to November 13 showed a continued rise in cereal and pulse prices.
Shaktikanta Das has often repeated that the RBI is determined to bring down inflation to 4 per cent. Last month, he expanded the scope of his frequently cited 'Arjuna' analogy to convey that Mint Road takes into account various factors
