'Inflation moderated but we still have distance to cover'

Moreover, India's growth outlook reflects underlying strength of country's macro-fundamentals, RBI Guv said

Inflation in India has moderated but still there is a distance to cover, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Friday.

India's retail inflation based on movement in consumer price index (CPI) was at 3.65 per cent in August, making it the second consecutive month of sub-4 per cent inflation. The government has tasked the RBI to ensure that inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.

"Inflation has moderated from its peak of 7.8 per cent in April 2022 into the tolerance band of +/- 2 per cent around the target of 4 per cent, but we still have a distance to cover and cannot afford to look the other way," said Das in a keynote address at the Future of Finance Forum 2024 organised by the Bretton Woods Committee here.

The RBI's projections indicate that inflation is likely to ease from 5.4 per cent in 202324 to 4.5 per cent in 2024-25 and 4.1 per cent in 2025-26.