India’s retail inflation eases to 4-month low

NEW DELHI. India’s retail inflation eased to a fourmonth low in August on softer food prices as supply side constraints eased following the lifting of pandemicrelated restrictions, which may allow the central bank to focus further on economic recovery.

Consumer prices rose 5.30 per cent in August from the same month last year, lower than July’s 5.59 per cent annual inflation rate and below a Reuters poll forecast of 5.60 per cent, data released by the Ministry of Statistics showed on Thursday.

In April, retail inflation stood at 4.29 per cent. Food prices, which account for nearly half of the inflation basket, rose 3.11 per cent year-on-year in August from 3.96 per cent a month before. With the latest numbers, inflation has stayed within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) 2-6 per cent comfort range for a second month in a row.