New Delhi: India’s retail inflation eased in October on lower food prices, edging closer to the central bank’s medium term target of 4%, which it has said would need to be firmly in sight before it can start lowering rates.
Annual retail inflation fell 4.87% in October, down from 5.02% the previous month. A Reuters poll of 53 economists had forecast a rate of 4.80%.
Food inflation, which accounts for nearly half of the overall consumer price basket, rose 6.61% in October as compared with 6.56% in September.
October inflation was below the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) upper tolerance band of 2-6% for a second consecutive month but the central bank last month kept its key lending rate steady for a fourth consecutive policy meeting and said it remains focused on bringing inflation close to the target of 4%.
(Reporting by Shivangi Acharya and Nikunj Ohri, editing by Ed Osmond)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.
