Retail inflation eases to 11-month low of 4.83% in April

14 May 2024 Evaluate

The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based retail inflation eased to an 11-month low of 4.83 per cent in April 2024 as prices of some kitchen items declined though overall food basket firmed up marginally. The CPI was 4.85 per cent in March. It was 4.7 per cent in April 2023. The previous low inflation was at 4.31 per cent in May 2023. The inflation remained within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) comfort zone. The government has tasked the RBI to ensure inflation remains at 4 per cent, with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.

The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in its data has showed that Rural CPI (General) in April 2024 stood at 5.43 per cent over 5.51 per cent in March 2024. The Urban CPI (General) stood at 4.11 per cent in April as against 4.14 per cent in March. The index value for Rural, Urban and Combined CPI (General) stood at 188.5, 184.7 and 186.7 respectively, in April 2024. The price data are collected from selected 1114 urban Markets and 1181 villages covering all States/UTs through personal visits by field staff of Field Operations Division of NSO, MoSPI on a weekly roster.

The inflation in the food basket was at 8.70 per cent in April, marginally up from 8.52 per cent in March. India's vegetable inflation stood at 27.80 per cent. Inflation rate for cereals and pulses which constitutes a significant portion of India's staple diet came in at 8.63 per cent and 16.84 per cent respectively. The Fuel and light inflation rate witnessed a contraction of (-)4.24 per cent in April. For clothing & footwear and housing sector the inflation rate stood at 2.85 per cent and 2.68 per cent respectively. State wise, the highest inflation was witnessed in Odisha at 7.11 per cent and lower in Delhi at 2.17 per cent.