Retail Inflation Data: Retail inflation rose to 6.52% in January from 5.72% in December

There has been an increase in retail inflation data for January 2023. The retail inflation rate in January was 6.52 percent while in December 2022 it was 5.72 percent. This could prompt the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to opt for another hike in key interest rates. Data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Thursday indicated that inflation based on the consumer price index increased marginally to 5.72 percent in December, from 5.88 percent in November.

Retail inflation has returned to above 6% after a two-month pause. Regarding the medium-term goal of 4 percent, CPI inflation has already been above it for 40 consecutive months. After being above the upper limit of the 2% to 6% target range mandated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the first 10 months of 2022, a period in which the central bank missed its inflation mandate, CPI inflation rose to 5.88 percent and 5.72 percent in November and December respectively. However, it increased more than expected last month.