Retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index rose to a four-month high of 2.57% in February on the back of higher prices of food and fuel, according to the figures provided by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation on Tuesday. Retail inflation was at 1.97% in January, while in February last year, it stood at 4.44%.
Meanwhile, industrial production slipped to 1.7% in January from December’s 2.4%, while manufacturing index was at 1.3%. Eleven out of the 23 industry groups in the manufacturing sector have shown positive growth in January 2019, the ministry said.
However, food inflation based on CPI was at -0.66%.
In its bi-monthly monetary policy meeting held on February 7, the Reserve Bank of India announced a change in its policy stance to neutral from “calibrated tightening”, lowering the repo rate by 25 basis points.
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