NEW DELHI:
Retail inflation
remained unchanged in Feb but
food and beverages prices
inched up, while
non-food items
eased during the month. Separate data showed industrial output growth moderated in Jan from Dec’s upwardly revised number.
Data released by the National Statistical Office (
NSO
) on Tuesday showed retail
inflation
remained unchanged at 5.1% in Feb but below the 6.4% recorded in Feb last year. Rural inflation was higher at 5.3% while urban was at 4.8%.
Inflation in meat and fish (5.2%), eggs (10.7%), vegetables (30.3%) and pulses & products (18.9%) shot up during the month with food and beverages inflation remaining above 7% for the fourth consecutive month.
“Inflation in the miscellaneous group cooled off to a 51-month low of 3.6% in Feb 2024, amid a broad-based dip across all the six sub-categories, while that for housing and clothing and footwear also eased to multi-month lows in that month, helping to moderate the core-CPI inflation,” said Aditi Nayar, chief economist at ratings agency ICRA.
Nayar said the upward revision in the NSO’s GDP growth estimates for Q1-Q2 FY24, along with three successive quarters of 8% plus GDP expansion, and the CPI print of 5.1% for Feb 2024, suggests status quo on interest rates and the RBI’s stance in April.
Separate data released by the NSO showed industrial output growth rose an annual 3.8% in Jan, lower than the upwardly revised 4.2% in Dec and below the 5.8% posted in Jan last year.
The key manufacturing sector grew by 3.2% in Jan, slower than the previous year’s 4.5%. Mining and electricity sectors also remained sluggish. The capital goods sector grew by 4.1% in Jan, slower than the 10.5% posted last year.