Retail inflation jumps to 6.01%, WPI eases to 12.96% in January

Retail inflation jumped to 6.01 percent in January 2022 compared to 5.56 percent in December 2021. As per the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation data released Monday, rate based on the Consumer Price Index, CPI, Inflation in food and beverages rose to 5.58 percent compared to 4.5 percent in December. However, on a month-on-month basis, retail inflation fell by 0.3 percent. The inflation print for January 2022 is along expected lines, with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das saying earlier today that it was likely to come in around the 6.00 percent mark. The Reserve Bank, which mainly factors in the CPI-based inflation, has been tasked by the government to keep the inflation at 4 per cent, with margin of 2 per cent on either side. 

Inflation at the wholesale level in January softened to 12.96 per cent from 13.56 per cent a month ago but marked the tenth consecutive month of being in double digits, another set of data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Monday showed. Wholesale food inflation was, however, at a 24-month high of 9.6 per cent. Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation rate is reflective of the price pressures on the inputs side and of manufacturers passing on the higher input costs to their output prices.