Retail Inflation Near 5% In Feb, Impact On Monetary Policy

India's consumer price index (CPI)-based retail inflation may come near 5 per cent in February, below the 6 per cent upper tolerance band set by the Reserve Bank of India. CPI inflation in January had fallen to a 3-month low of 5.1%. Retail inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) is seen to have remained above 5% in February with prices of food items such as vegetables seen to be on the rise once again. Food items such as tomatoes and pulses have become costlier while there has also been some spike in core inflation. However, the Reserve Bank of India is unlikely to change its monetary policy at its next meeting in April as the domestic economy remains robust and inflation stays above its 4 per cent target. The RBI has pegged CPI inflation at 5.4 per cent for 2023-24 with fourth quarter at 5% per cent. Watch BTTV Managing Editor Siddharth Zarabi in conversation with Vivek Kumar, Economist, QuantEco and Madhavi Arora, Lead Economist, Emkay Global.