2024-03-13 11:01:35
New Delhi: There has been a decline in the rate of retail inflation. It decreased to 5.09% in February. In January it was 5.10%. The Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation released the data related to this on Tuesday. As far as industrial production (IIP) is concerned, it stood at 3.8% in January. The decline in inflation rate is in line with experts’ estimates. He had indicated moderation in the inflation rate. Retail inflation remains within the tolerance band of 2-6% prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Inflation has increased by 0.16% on a sequential basis as compared to a decline of 0.11% in the previous month. The inflation rate in rural and urban areas has been 5.34% and 4.78%.
Increase in food inflation rate
According to National Statistical Office (NSO) data, inflation in food items stood at 8.66 percent in February, which is slightly higher than 8.3 percent in the previous month. The Reserve Bank of India has the responsibility of keeping the retail inflation rate at four percent with a variation of two percent. In its monetary policy review last month, the central bank had estimated the inflation rate to be 5.4 percent in 2023-24. Inflation rate of vegetables increased from 27.03% to 30.25% in January. On the other hand, fuel and light inflation saw a decline of 0.77% compared to a decline of 0.60% in the previous month.
Industrial Production Index (IIP) data
India’s industrial output grew 3.8% in January, according to data from the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI). Data has shown that in January 2024, the production of the manufacturing sector grew by 3.2 percent. It was 4.5 percent in the same month a year ago. Mining production increased by 5.9 percent in January this year. Electricity production increased by 5.6 percent. IIP increased by 5.9 percent during April 2023 to January 2024. Whereas an increase of 5.5 percent was recorded in the year-ago period.