India’s retail inflation eases to 4.25% in May

India’s retail inflation eases to 4.25% in May

India’s retail inflation eased further to 4.25% in May, from 4.7% in April, with price rise in food items faced by consumers moderating to 2.91%.

This is the third successive month that inflation has remained below the Reserve Bank of India’s upper tolerance limit of 6% after a prolonged streak above it.

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Urban consumers continued to face slightly higher inflation at 4.27% than their rural counterparts (4.17%), but food inflation was lower in urban areas, easing significantly to 2.43% from 3.7% a month earlier.

In comparison, rural food price rise moderation was less benign, cooling to 3.2% in May from 3.9% in April.

On a month-on-month basis, however, price levels continued to firm up, with the Consumer Index Price (CPI) rising 0.51% for the second successive month, while the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) ticked up 0.7%, compared to 0.6% in April.