Retail Inflation Moves Up To 7.61% In October

The retail inflation worsened to 7.61 per cent in October as compared to 7.27 per cent last month and the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) jumped to 11.07 per cent in October up from 10.68 per cent in September.

According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, CFPI (rural) measured at 11.05 per cent in October as compared to 10.53 per cent in September, while the CFPI (urban) was at 11.19 per cent in October and 10.94 per cent in September.

The data indicated that rural CPI (general) in October stood at 7.69 per cent as against 7.36 per cent in September and the urban CPI (general) stood at 7.4 per cent in October as against 7.26 per cent in September.

West Bengal, Telangana, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh recorded the highest inflation rates at 10.89, 10.37, 10.14 and 10.03 per cent respectively, while the lowest ones were recorded at 3.85 per cent in Delhi and 4.84 per cent in Rajasthan in the month of October.

The price data is collected from representative and selected 1,114 urban markets and 1,181 villages covering all states and Union Territories through personal visits by the field staff of Field Operations Division of the National Statistics Office, MoSPI on a weekly roster.

Emkay Wealth Management Head of Research Dr Joseph Thomas said that food prices do not seem to be moderating contrary to earlier expectations and from just fruits and vegetables the price surge has moved to all the major food components as well.

“This may have an impact on the trajectory of interest rates, and the Reserve Bank of India may have to continue to focus on liquidity provision rather than rate action. It is also a fact that the economy is going through unprecedented economic developments and therefore one may expect a relatively higher price level. But persistently high inflation could invite action from the RBI by way of even reducing the free liquidity,” he said. (ANI)