Retail Inflation eases to 5.72% in December 2022

13 Jan 2023 , 10:17 AM

India’s retail inflation rate fell down from the previous month, staying within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) comfort range of 2-6% for a second month, as per the data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Thursday.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation rate eased to 5.72% in December. Earlier on November it was 5.88% and 6.77% in October 2022.

The government has directed the RBI to maintain retail inflation at 4% with a margin of 2% on either side for a five-year period ending March 2026.

Lower food prices, particularly the fall in vegetable prices, helped keep inflation within the tolerance range.

Food inflation, which accounts for about 40% of the inflation basket, came in at 4.19% in December as against 4.67% in the previous month.

Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist, ICRA, said, ‘We expect the core inflation to remain elevated in Q4 FY23, given the continued pass-through of higher input costs by producers and sustained robust demand for services.’

Significantly, CPI inflation in health and education also jumped indicating higher fees and costs. While CPI inflation in health rose to 6.15% in December, it increased to 5.9% in education.

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