Retail inflation falls to 2.99% in April on lower food prices

The Dollar Business Bureau 

The country’s retail inflation declined sharply to 2.99% in April against the 3.89% in March, on account of lower prices of food items such as vegetables and pulses that recorded a deflationary trend. 

In April 2016, the consumer price index (CPI) inflation was at 5.47%. 

Pulses and products prices witnessed a sharp decline in April, with a deflation of 15.94%, whereas prices of vegetables fell by 8.59%. In March, the two items recorded a deflation of 12.42 and 7.24%. 

The fuel and light segment recorded an inflation of 6.13% in April, higher as compared to 5.56% in March. 

Fruit prices grew at 3.78% in April, lower than 9.35% in the previous month, according to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) data, released on Friday. 

The rate of price increase for cereals and products in the said month was 5.06%, lower than 5.38% in the previous month. Meat and fish recorded an inflation of 1.9% during April, compared to 2.96% in March. 

Overall food inflation for April was at 0.61% compared to 1.93% previously. 

The CPI-based retail inflation for the month of March this year was revised marginally upwards to 3.89% compared to 3.81% recorded previously. 

The CPI inflation floated around the medium-term target of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) of 4%, within a bracket of +/- 2%.

For the financial year 2017-18, RBI has anticipated retail inflation to 4.5% in the first half of the year and 5% in the other half.