In a good news for economy, the CPI inflation cooled to 3.31 percent percent in October from 3.77 percent in September on low food prices, official data showed Monday. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast October’s annual increase in the consumer price index at 3.67 percent, compared with a downwardly revised 3.70 percent in September. The retail inflation number is the lowest since September 2017 when it touched 3.28 percent.
The prices of vegetables fell by 8.06 per cent in the month of October in comparison to a 4.15 percent contraction in September. In the fruit basket, the inflation also slowed to 0.35 percent in when compared to 1.12 percent recorded previous month.
It is the third straight month retail inflation has been below the Reserve Bank of India’s medium-term target of 4 percent, supporting its decision to hold interest rates at its meeting last month.
The inflation also eased in protein-rich items like cereals, eggs, milk and related products. However, inflation rose to 8.55 percent for the ‘fuel and light’ category in comparison to 8.47 percent last month.
The IIP or factory output data in the month of September rose to 4.5 percent from 4.3 percent in the previous month. However, this was a bit lower than an upwardly revised 4.7 percent on-year increase in the month of August, the data showed.
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