Retail inflation dips to one-year low of 5.72% in December triggered by lower food prices

New Delhi: India’s retail inflation which had been maintaining a high-growth trajectory over the past year, eased to a one-year low of 5.72 per cent last month, down from 5.88 per cent in November, official data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) revealed on Thursday. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based retail inflation was at 5.88 per cent in November 2022 and 5.66 per cent in December 2021. The dip has been chiefly triggered by softening of food prices. India’s factory output, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), rose to 7.1 per cent in November 2022 as opposed to a contraction of (-) 4.0 per cent in October. The mining output rose by 9.7 per cent and power generation increased by 12.7 per cent during the month under review. In December 2022, retail inflation had dipped to its lowest level since December 2021. The CPI dropped below the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) upper margin of 6 per cent for the first time in the calendar year 2022. The Centre has directed the central bank to maintain retail inflation at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side for a five-year period ending March 2026. According to the government data released on Thursday, the CPI inflation in rural areas declined from 6.09 per cent in November to 6.05 per cent in December. Retail inflation in rural areas stood at 6.05 per cent as compared to 5.39 per cent in urban areas.