According to government data released on December 12, retail inflation eased to 5.48 percent in November from 6.21 percent in October, mainly due to softening of food prices, especially vegetable prices.
“During the month of November 2024, a significant decline in inflation has been observed in the vegetables, pulses and products, sugar and confectionery, fruits, eggs, milk and products, spices, transport and communication and personal care and impact sub-groups,” NSO said. ,” NSO said. In a statement.
According to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO), the food inflation rate decreased to 9.04 percent in November. It was 10.87 percent in October and 8.70 percent in November 2023.
Retail inflation has remained stubbornly high with food prices wreaking havoc and has often breached the RBI Monetary Policy Committee’s tolerance band of 2 percent to 6 percent. Retail inflation hit a surprising 14-month high of 6.21 percent in October and vegetable inflation hit a 57-month high of 42.2 percent.
Last week, the Reserve Bank had raised the inflation estimate for the current fiscal year to 4.8 percent from 4.5 percent. It also said that prolonged food price pressures are likely to keep core inflation high in the December quarter.
Headline inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased from an average of 3.6 percent during July-August to 5.5 percent in September and 6.2 percent in October 2024.
In October, inflation reached 6.2 percent, crossing the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) upper tolerance threshold of 6 percent. This is the first time in 14 months since August 2023 that inflation has crossed this level. The increase was mainly due to higher food prices, especially vegetables.
Meanwhile, data from the statistics ministry showed that factory output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), rose 3.5 percent year-on-year (yoy) in October 2024. Manufacturing sector output grew by 4.1 percent compared to 10.6 percent. Year ago month In the April-October period, IIP grew 4 percent, down from 7 percent in the year-ago period.
