Retail inflation surges to 6.07% in Feb, above RBI's target range

India's retail inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), rose to 6.07 per cent in the month of February, breaching the upper limit of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) target range, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation on Monday.
 
The RBI has been mandated by the government to keep retail inflation at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.
 
Retail inflation surged to an 8-month high in February on the back of over 16 per cent year-on-year rise in price of oils and fats, followed by 10.10 per cent rise in footwear and 8.73 per cent increase in fuel and light cost, the data showed.

 
The CPI-based inflation stood at 6.01 per cent in January 2022 and 5.03 per cent in February 2021.
 
Earlier today, the government said that the WPI inflation grew at 13.11 per cent in February as food prices hardened.
 
WPI inflation has remained in double digits for the eleventh consecutive month beginning April 2021. Inflation in January 2022 was 12.96 per cent while in December 2021, it was 13.56 per cent.
 
Meanwhile, India's annual industrial output grew 1.3 per cent in January compared to a 0.6 per cent contraction in the same month a year ago.

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