Costlier food keeps CPI inflation above 6% for 2nd month
Mint Mumbai|March 14, 2023
Retail inflation stayed above the Reserve Bank of India’s upper tolerance level of 6% for the second consecutive month in February on costlier cereals, milk and spices, putting pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates further.
Ravi Dutta Mishra & Saurav Anand
Costlier food keeps CPI inflation above 6% for 2nd month
 

Inflation based on the consumer price index (CPI) slipped marginally to 6.44% in February from 6.52% in January, data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Monday showed.

“High CPI inflation, above 6% for the second consecutive month, is concerning. CPI inflation for February was led by an uptick in food inflation and a strengthening of price pressures in non-food categories such as housing, household goods and services and health. But, worryingly, core inflation has remained elevated at 6.3%," said Rajani Sinha, chief economist at Care Edge.

Apart from November and December of 2022, retail inflation has remained above the RBI’s upper tolerance level of 6% since January 2022. The Reserve Bank has projected retail inflation at 6.5% for FY23.

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