oppn parties Retail Inflation Eases With Moderation In Food Prices

Story Of The Day

Bankipur Falls: The Seat BJP Could Not Afford to Lose Has Fallen

August 10, 2026

People Are Talking About

People Are Talking About the Language of Gen Z

News Snippets

  • Supreme Court rules that functional disability should be the deciding factor in granting road accident damages and not any doctor-issued disability certificate
  • Supreme Court flagged the fact that nearly 56% of the vehicles plying in India were uninsured and asked the government to challan them
  • An Air India flight from Phuket to Delhi encountered severe turbulence and 17 passengers were admitted to hospital with injuries
  • Calcutta HC said that heavens won't fall if Vande Matram is made mandatory to sing in madrasas
  • Kolkata Municipal Corporation has sought government nod for increasing city's wards to 200+ to keep residents in each ward between 16000 to 18000
  • Government has said that partially filled online Census forms may be allowed
  • Government may allow fees on UPI payments above Rs 2000, except on transfer between two individuals
  • Brent crude falls below $80 per barrel
  • Government has increased the LIC offer for sale to Rs 31,400cr with an additional 4% on the block
  • Stock markets become nervous on Tuesday due to Gulf situation: Sensex slides 210 points and Nifty sheds 159 points ahead of RBI MPC meets today
  • Indian cricket team lands in Sri Lanka for a 2-Test series
  • A former French Navy pilot who had alleged that IAF had lost Rafales during Operation Sindoor has been held in France on spying charges
  • An ordinary zari worked living just 100km away from Kolkata was stunned to find Rs 100cr deposited in the bank account. The bank has frozen her account pending enquiry
  • Businessmen in Kolkata gets a Rs 5-crore extortion call, allegedly from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang
  • NTA floats tenders to secure offices and exam materials round-the-clock
Tarun Tejpal, former editor of Tehelka, was sentenced to 10 years in jail by Bombay HC for raping a colleague. This judgment overturns the acquittal by a Goa sessions court
oppn parties
Retail Inflation Eases With Moderation In Food Prices

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2023-04-13 07:29:36

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

Against the backdrop of consistently gloomy news on the global economic outlook (the IMF had cut India’s GDP growth rate in FY24 to 5.9% just a day earlier), the National Statistical Office released cheerful data on Wednesday which showed that while industrial output rose marginally in February, retail inflation dipped to 5.7% in March from 6.4% in February, mainly due to moderation in food prices. While rural inflation was at 5.5%, it was 5.9% in urban areas.

If inflation remains under control, experts see the RBI maintaining the pause in key interest rate hike and bat for growth. After the April meeting when the MPC paused the rate hike, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das had pointedly said that the apex bank was watching the situation and the policy decision was not a pivot as the bank will wait for a durable decline in inflation closer to target. Experts now feel that with food prices moderating and expected to moderate further in view of the expected bumper rabi crop, the RBI is likely to maintain status quo in key interest rates.

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose to 5.6% in February, up from 5.5% in January. Although this is an insignificant rise, the good news is that experts feel that in terms of rolling three-month average, the overall growth in IIP is still fairly steady. This shows that although industrial output is not galloping, it is not falling too and demand is fairly steady across sectors.

But with the International Energy Agency saying that oil prices are set to rise, it remains to be seen whether another round of hikes in petroleum prices and the consequent hike in transportation costs will add to inflationary pressures. There are conflicting reports on the monsoon too. If inflation moderates further after the harvesting of the rabi crop, it will be good news for the economy. 

Other Stories You Make Like

Editorials

Accountability Cannot Be a Precondition to Debate

Accountability Cannot Be a Precondition to Debate

 When the State Fears Its Own Youth

When the State Fears Its Own Youth

In Depth

The Taxman's Doppelganger: How India's ITR Filing Deadline Became a Phishing Season

The Taxman's Doppelganger: How India's ITR Filing Deadline Became a Phishing Season

Editor's Pick

Kangana Ranaut's War on 'Generation Gutter'

Kangana Ranaut's War on 'Generation Gutter'
© 2014 India Commentary. All rights reserved.