New Delhi, 13 Feb. India’s consumer price index (CPI) rose to 6.52% in January, following two months of declines, lifting the indicator almost a full percentage point above the range of maximum tolerance set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI, central bank), authorities reported. Monday.
Food inflation, which accounts for almost 40% of the CPI basket in India, is a major cause of the rise in the indicator from 4.19% in December to 5.94% in January , according to preliminary calculations by the Indian ministry. of Statistics.
Grain, egg and milk prices saw the biggest increases, up 16 percent, according to the ministry’s year-on-year estimate. This is the biggest increase since last October, when the CPI closed at 6.77%.
The rebound has put Indian inflation outside the RBI’s tolerance range of 2-6% for the current fiscal year, which ends in March.
The Reserve Bank of India last week announced an interest rate hike for the sixth consecutive time, raising them by 25 basis points to 6.50%, in a bid to contain inflation over the next financial year.
In sum, the RBI has since hiked the interest rate by 250 basis points as it attempts to move beyond the accommodative policies it implemented during the coronavirus pandemic crisis.
India has an inflation target of 4% with a range of 2% for the new fiscal year, and central bank officials have been positive about that target, given the slowdown in inflation over the past few years. last two months.
The projection for the period 2023-2024 estimates growth for India of 6.4%, with its strongest acceleration in the first quarter, of 7.8%, followed by the second quarter with 6.2%. The projections for the last two quarters of the year are respectively 6.0 and 5.8%. ECE
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