Retail inflation breaches RBI's upper tolerance band at 6.09%

Retail inflation surged to 6.09 per cent in October, breaching the Reserve Bank's upper tolerance limit for the first time in two years and prompting economists to anticipate a policy rate hike by the RBI next month. The consumer price index (CPI) based retail inflation rose to 5.54 per cent in September, as a sustained uptick in food & beverages (F&B), restaurant services and transport inflation played a key role in pushing up the October headline number.
Data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation showed that food inflation spiked to 8.94 per cent in October from 7.74 per cent in the previous month. Of the 12 categories, including food items and services, 11 showed hardening in inflation. Retail inflation in restaurant and accommodation services was 10.06 per cent, F&B was 8.51 per cent, and personal care and miscellaneous goods and services were at 10.14 per cent. The top five items with high inflation were onion (116.22 per cent), garlic (60.74 per cent), silver jewellery (52.39 per cent), ginger (48.32 per cent) and lemon (47.30 per cent).
This is the first time in two years that retail inflation has breached the RBI's upper tolerance band of 6 per cent. The central bank is mandated to keep inflation within the range of 2-6 per cent. In October 2024, retail inflation was 6.25 per cent. The RBI hiked the benchmark policy rate by 0.25 per cent to 5.50 per cent in October, its first hike in nearly four years while signalling that further rate hikes could follow amid rising inflation, a weak rupee and high crude oil prices.
The October retail inflation is a key data point before the December 2-4 meeting of the RBI monetary policy committee. Icra expects year-on-year inflation in the F&B segment to remain elevated above the 8 per cent mark in November 2026, similar to the print seen in October 2026, with upward pressure from prices of items such as milk, sugar and onions. Moreover, the deficient monsoon and inadequate replenishment of reservoir levels have heightened concerns regarding the rabi crop outlook and food inflation.

(Business Correspondent)