India’s retail inflation eases to 5-month low
new delhi — India’s retail inflation eased to a five-month low in March, but remained above the central bank’s medium-term target, supporting views that monetary policy is likely to remain unchanged at the next review in early June.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which has kept rates steady since a cut of 25 basis points in August, is widely expected to maintain rates at their current level in the next review due on June 6.
Last week, RBI lowered its April-September retail inflation projection to 4.7 per cent to 5.1 per cent, from a previous range of 5.1 per cent to 5.6 per cent released in February.
India’s consumer price index rose 4.28 per cent in March from a year earlier, data released by the Ministry of Statistics showed on Thursday.
Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted March’s consumer inflation rate would ease to 4.20 per cent from 4.44 per cent in February. Forecasts ranged from 3.90 per cent to 5.10 per cent. Most of the analysts expect the monetary policy committee will hold rates for at least a few months.
“We expect that the committee will hold rates in the coming months in order to completely assess the macro conditions before going in for a rate hike toward the end of the year,” said Anis Chakravarty, a lead economist and partner at Deloitte India. —