India's consumer price inflation climbs further to 2.86% in March
15 Apr 2019
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Consumer price inflation in the country based on the consumer price index increased to 2.86 per cent in March 2019, rising further from the 2.57 per cent increase recorded in February, official data released on Friday showed.
The inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 2.28 per cent in March 2018.
Data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed that inflation in food basket rose to 0.3 per cent in March from (-) 0.66 per cent in the previous month.
While the consumer price inflation rate has been ruling well below the Reserve Bank of India’s medium-term inflation target for some months now, the spurt in inflation rate opens up the possibility of the RBI scrutiny before its next monetary policy meeting.
The annual rate of inflation in food prices, which account for about half of the consumer price index (CPI), however, declined to (-) 0.30 per cent in March 2019 from (-) 0.66 per cent in February.
Consumer price inflation for the rural areas stood at 1.80 per cent in March 2019, marginally down from 1.81 per cent in February and 4.44 per cent in March 2018.
Consumer price inflation for the urban areas stood at 4.10 per cent in march 2019 against 3.43 per cent in February, and 4.12per cent in March last year.
Food price inflation for rural areas stood at -1.46 in March 2019 against (-) 1.75 in February and 3.71 per cent in March last year.
Food price inflation for urban areas stood at 3.47 per cent in March 2019 against 1.27 in February and 1.22 per cent in March last year.
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