Retail Inflation Based on CPI Eases to 6.44% in February

New Delhi: Retail inflation, based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), eased to 6.44 per cent in February. Earlier, Inflation in January stood at a three-month high level of 6.52 per cent.

As per the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation data released today, inflation in the food basket last month moderated to 5.95 per cent from 6 per cent in January. Food prices contribute to nearly 40 per cent of the CPI basket.

In February, Rural inflation stood at 6.72 per cent, whereas urban inflation came in at 6.10 per cent. In December last year, the CPI came below the Reserve Bank of India’s upper margin of 6 per cent for the first time in the calendar year, standing at 5.72 per cent.

The Government had mandated the Central Bank to maintain retail inflation at four per cent with a margin of two per cent on either side.