September retail inflation at 4.35 percent, lowest since April, says government data

New Delhi: Retail inflation declined to 4.35 percent in September, mainly due to lower food prices, according to government data released on Tuesday. The Consumer Price Index-based (CPI) inflation was at 5.30 percent in August and at 7.27 percent in September 2020. As per the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the inflation in the food basket eased to 0.68 percent in September 2021, significantly down from 3.11 percent in the preceding month. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which mainly factors in CPI-based inflation while arriving at its bi-monthly monetary policy, has been tasked by the government to keep it at 4 percent, with a tolerance band of 2 percent on either side. Last week, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had said that overall, the CPI headline momentum is moderating, which combined with favourable base effects in the coming months could bring about a substantial softening in inflation in the near term. RBI has projected the CPI inflation at 5.3 percent for 2021-22: 5.1 percent in the second quarter, 4.5 percent in third; 5.8 percent in the last quarter of the fiscal, with risks broadly balanced.