India’s retail inflation eased more than estimated, indicating that the seasonal disruptions and one-off items that had pushed inflation upwards to a 17-month high are now starting to turn.
CPI inflation in India rose 4.4 percent in February, according to data released by the Central Statistics Office on Monday, 12 March. Economists polled by Bloomberg had forecast retail inflation at 4.7 percent. Inflation stood at 5.2 percent in December and 5.07 percent in January.
Higher vegetable prices, especially the seasonal surge seen in onions and tomatoes, has pushed up retail inflation since June 2017 when it hit an all-time low. However, a fresh supply of tomatoes starting December-end, and onions starting March-end, is expected to pull prices lower.
(This article was first published on BloombergQuint.)
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