May retail inflation hits 4-month peak |
Inflation based on consumer price index (CPI), also known as retail inflation, for the month of May spiked to 4.87 per cent. Retail inflation now stands at a four-month high after topping the 4.58 per cent it recorded in April. This is now the seventh straight month that inflation has breached the Reserve Bank of India`s (RBI) comfort zone -- its mid-term target of capping it at 4 per cent. Food inflation rose to 3.10 per cent last month, as against 2.8 per cent in April. The spike in inflation also came on back of fuel prices after global oil prices hit a 3-1/2-year high last month, led by increasing worries of supply constraints from US President Donald Trump`s decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement. The RBI in its bid to tighten inflation, increased repo rate last week, for the first time in more than four years. The central bank however, kept its "neutral" policy stance unchanged. The industrial output or IIP has increased to 4.9 per cent in April from 3.2 per cent last year. The manufacturing sector, which constitute more than 77 per cent of the index, recorded a growth of 5.2 per cent in April, up from 2.9 per cent in the year ago month.
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