India’s retail inflation likely rose in March but stayed within target

Sumary of India’s retail inflation likely rose in March but stayed within target:

• India’s retail inflation edged up to a four-month high in March, led by an increase in food and fuel prices, but remained within the Reserve Bank of India’s target range, a Reuters poll predicted..
• The April 5-8 poll of more than 50 economists showed retail inflation rose to 5.40% in March from a year earlier as opposed to 5.03% in February..
• “Although India’s core inflation has remained elevated for a while, the recent acceleration in headline inflation largely reflects higher food prices,”.
• “I expect the pickup to be a temporary phenomenon, yet there are significant risks surrounding the inflation outlook.”.
• The RBI raised its inflation projection for the first half of this fiscal year to 5.2% on Wednesday, still within the RBI’s target range of 2%-6%..
• “With some cities already under COVID-19 lockdown and maybe more facing the same risk, the panic-buying like a year ago may set in to pressure inflation further up in the months ahead,”.
• The RBI kept the key repo rate at record low 4.0% and its monetary policy accommodative amid concerns of rising COVID-19 cases that could derail the nascent recovery….

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From The Economic Times - 09/04/2021