India's Retail Inflation Falls to 7.04% in May

Retail Inflation. Representative Image. 

(Photo: Altered by the Quint)

India’s retail inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) has fallen to 7.04 percent in May against 7.79 percent in April, data showed on Monday, 13 June.

Retail inflation measures the changes in prices from a retail market perspective.

According to the Monetary Policy Report for April 2021, the inflation rate should be sustained between 2 to 6 percent, with the ideal inflation rate being 4 percent till March 2026.

For a fifth consecutive month, the retail inflation stayed well above the RBI's upper tolerance limit of 6 percent.

According to data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Monday, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation rose 7.04 percent in May year-on-year, helped by slower increases in food prices.

CPI-based inflation was 7.79 percent in April. In May 2021, the retail inflation stood at 6.3 percent.

Food Inflation

Inflation in the food basket was 7.97 percent in May 2022, marginally lower than 8.31 per cent in the previous month, the NSO data showed, as per PTI.

Last month, the government had announced a series of changes in the tax structure of essential commodities and fuel to cushion the blow from rising prices and fight inflation. Increase in prices of essential commodities such as wheat, tomatoes and other vegetables has kept inflation elevated, as per The Times of India.

Dry spells caused by record-breaking heatwaves in several parts of India has kept crop yields low.

However, the surge in crude oil prices and supply-chain disruptions caused by the Russia-Ukraine war since February, is anticipated to be short-lived.

(With inputs from PTI, The Times of India.)