Retail inflation eases to 6.44 per cent in February

Retail inflation, based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), eased to 6.44 percent in February. Earlier, Inflation in January stood at a three-month high level of 6.52 percent. As per the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation data released today, inflation in the food basket last month moderated to 5.95 percent from 6 percent in January. Food prices contribute to nearly 40 percent of the CPI basket.In February, Rural inflation stood at 6.72 percent, whereas urban inflation came in at 6.10 percent. In December last year, the CPI came below the Reserve Bank of India’s upper margin of 6 percent for the first time in the calendar year, standing at 5.72 percent. The Government had mandated the Central Bank to maintain retail inflation at four percent with a margin of two percent on either side. Inflation globally has hit the highest levels in decades, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, effects of China’s lockdown and supply disruptions pushing up prices of everything, from energy to food, squeezing households, including in India. In December, India’s consumer inflation cooled to a year’s low of 5.72% before climbing back up.