April CPI inflation jumps to 10.36%, another headache for RBI

India’s consumer price inflation accelerated in April to 10.36 percent, making life harder for the RBI as it looks to kickstart a flagging economy, government data showed on Friday.

In March, consumer prices rose 9.47 percent.

Consumer price-based food inflation accelerated to 10.18 percent in April from 8.22 percent in February, driven by a rise in prices of vegetables, eggs and fish products.

Inflation as measured by India’s benchmark wholesale price index accelerated to 7.23 percent in the year to April as price pressures for food, fuel and manufacturing items all picked up, data showed on Monday.

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The Reserve Bank of India, which unlike other central banks uses mainly the wholesale price index for monitoring inflation, slashed policy rates by a steeper-than-expected 50 basis points last month to boost a sagging economy.

A sustained jump in inflation will make it harder for the bank to further reduce the cost of credit.

The annual consumer price index (CPI) was launched in February and measures retail prices in major food groups, fuel, clothing, housing and education across rural and urban India.

Reuters