Retail Inflation: Relief in retail inflation; 25-month low in May, down from 4.70 percent to 4.25 percent
These figures of retail inflation have been released by the government on the basis of data collected from 1114 urban and 1181 rural markets.
Time to Read 2 Min
The common man is getting great relief from inflation. According to the data released by the government, the retail inflation rate has reached a 25-month low in the month of May. Retail inflation rose to 4.25% in May from 4.70% in April. During this period, rural inflation has also come down from 4.68% to 4.17%. On the other hand, the inflation rate in urban areas has come down from 4.85 percent in the month of April to 4.27 percent.
Data collected from 1114 urban and 1181 rural markets
These figures of retail inflation have been released by the government on the basis of data collected from 1114 urban and 1181 rural markets. Under this, 98.56% of the villages and 97.04% of the urban markets of the country have been covered.
Inflation eased on softening of food and fuel prices
According to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI) on Monday, the CPI-based inflation rate declined in May due to softening in the prices of food and fuel articles. This is the fourth consecutive month when retail inflation has declined and the third consecutive month when consumer price index (CPI) based inflation is below 6% i.e. in the RBI's comfort zone.
Retail inflation at the lowest level since April 2021
Retail inflation has come down to 4.25 percent, its lowest level since April 2021. At that time it was at 4.23 percent. The government has tasked the Reserve Bank of India to ensure that retail inflation remains between 2 percent and 6 percent. Last week, the Reserve Bank kept policy rates unchanged at 6.5 percent and projected retail inflation to average 5.1 percent for the current fiscal.
Industrial production grew by 4.2 percent in April
According to the official data released by the government on Monday, industrial production increased by 4.2 percent in April. Factory output, measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), grew by 6.7 percent in April 2022. Data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed that the manufacturing sector output grew by 4.9 percent in April 2023. Mining production increased by 5.1 percent in April. On the other hand, there has been a decrease of 1.1 percent in electricity generation in the month of April.
