India's retail inflation for October rises to 7.61 pct

Source: Xinhua| 2020-11-12 22:23:33|Editor: huaxia

MUMBAI, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- India's retail inflation for October rose for the ninth month in a row to reach 7.61 percent due to rising food prices, as per the government data released on Thursday.

This is the second-highest level of retail inflation since May 2014 when it stood at 8.33 percent, analysts said.

The October inflation continues to stay above the country's Central Bank's tolerance level of 6 percent for the seventh month in a row, which diminishes the chances of any policy rate cut at the forthcoming monetary policy meeting scheduled next month from Dec. 2-4.

"The (Indian) economy is going through unprecedented economic developments and therefore one may expect a relatively higher price level. But persistently high inflation could invite action from the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) by way of even reducing the free liquidity," said Joseph Thomas, head of Research at Emkay Wealth Management, a domestic stock brokerage house.

During the month under review, inflation in the food basket rose to 11.07 percent from 10.68 percent in September as vegetable prices remained high along with rising onion prices.

Earlier this month, officials of the Indian government had assured that the elevated food prices due to the pandemic-led lockdown will ease as it had taken steps to normalize supply. Enditem

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