Retail inflation rises to 3.65% in February on costlier food items

New Delhi: Retail inflation rose to 4-month high of 3.65 percent in February mainly due to surge in price of food items like fruits, sugar and confectionery. Measured in terms of Consumer Price Index (CPI), the inflation had dipped to a multi-year low of 3.17 percent in January this year on account of cash crunch following demonetisation. It was 5.26 percent in February last year. [caption id=“attachment_2783234” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representative image[/caption] According to the CPI data released today by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the consumer food prices index (CFPI) rose by 2.01 percent in February from 0.61 percent in January. The CFPI was 5.3 percent in February 2016. Inflation in fruits was higher at 8.33 percent, fuel and light at 3.9 percent in February. The rate of price rise in meat and fish was 3.5 percent in February. Prices of sugar and confectionery items rose by 18.83 percent in February while inflation in milk and milk product increased by 4.22 percent. The rate of inflation in household goods and services was 4.09 percent while this rate was in health segment was 4 percent. The transport and communication became expensive by 5.39 percent. The personal care and effects segment rose by 5.15 percent while the education became more expensive by 5.37 percent in February this year. The inflation rate was 4.38 percent in clothing and footware segment while it was 4.9 percent in housing segment. However, the prices of vegetables and pulses declined by 8.29 percent and 9.02 percent respectively. Rural retail inflation was at 3.67 percent in February compared with 3.36 percent in the preceding month. The CPI was also up in the urban sector at 3.55 percent in February, from 2.9 percent in January this year.