Inflation print for October will be lower than 7% driven by measures taken by the Union government and the Reserve Bank of India in the last 6-7 months, the central bank’s Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Saturday, reported PTI.

The statement came as the retail inflation rate has remained above 7% in the past two months. In September, the price rise indicator was 7.41%. It was 7% in August.

Retail inflation has also remained above the upper limit mandated by the Reserve Bank for nine straight months now. The central bank aims to keep inflation in the range of 2% to 6%.

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To tackle inflation, the Reserve Bank has raised the repo rate on three occasions between May and September. During the period, the central bank has also cut its growth forecast to 7% from an earlier estimate of 7.2%.

On Saturday, Das said at the HT Leadership Summit that there is no need to change the goal post for price rise targeting as higher than 6% inflation would hurt growth.

“Inflation is a matter of concern with which we are now dealing and dealing effectively,” he said.

Meanwhile, Das also said that India will continue to be the fastest growing major economy with a likely growth rate of 7% in 2022-’23.

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The RBI governor said that the country’s economy remains resilient and is supported by banking and non-banking sectors.

He noted said the entire world has withstood multiple shocks. “I call it triple shocks of Covid-19 pandemic, then the war in Ukraine, and now the financial market turmoil,” Das said.

He added: “So far as India is concerned, economy, overall macroeconomic fundamentals, the financial sector stability, all these aspects remain resilient. The banking sector that is the financial sector is stable because of all the parameters with regard to banking or the non-banking lenders or the other major financial sector players.”

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