Retail inflation in India jumped to 5.59% in December from 4.91% in November, due to higher costs of manufactured goods, according to official statistics issued on Wednesday.
Inflation was 4.59% in the previous year, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Inflation in the food sector rose to 4.05% in December, up from 1.87% in November.
In a Reuters survey, analysts anticipated annual inflation of 5.8%.
Despite the fact that inflation is much higher, it remains within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) target range of 2% to 6%.
While today’s CPI print suggests that the seasonal decline in food prices has begun to materialise, the unfavourable base and elevated core inflation, combined with continued supply-side bottlenecks due to Omicron, will keep the headline print elevated by around 5% for the next few months, said Garima Kapoor, Elara Capital’s Economist-Institutional Equities.
Meanwhile, according to data issued by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, industrial output increased by 1.4% in November, compared to 1.6% in the same month the previous year (MoSPI). In October, IIP increased by 3.2%.
In November, the mining industry expanded by 5%, compared to a decrease of 5.4% in the same month the previous year.
Meanwhile, manufacturing sector growth slowed to 0.9% in November, compared to 1.6% in the same month the previous year.
Source: Mint