Team Blitz India
NEW DELHI: India’s consumer price index (CPI)-based retail inflation rate declined for the second consecutive month to a five-month low in October, providing relief to the government on the macroeconomic front as the long festival season is underway.
Data released by the National Statistical Office on November 13 showed that retail inflation eased to 4.87 per cent year-on-year in October from 5.02 per cent in September, driven by a favourable base effect and moderation in the prices of clothing, footwear, housing, fuel, and transport, among other things.
Although headline inflation remained within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) tolerance band of 2-6 per cent for the second month in a row in October, it has now been above the medium-term target of 4 per cent for 49 consecutive months.
Meanwhile, food inflation remained sticky as it slightly moderated to 6.61 per cent in October from 6.62 per cent in September due to the prices of items within the category cancelling each other out.
