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[ad_1] NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said retail inflation is now " stable " and temporary increases in inflation on a few occasions are caused by demand-supply mismatches arising out of global shocks and adverse weather conditions. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha , Sitharaman said India's retail inflation has declined from an average of 7.1% in April-October 2022 to 5.4% in the corresponding period of 2023. "The retail inflation is now stable and within the notified tolerance band of 2% to 6%. A steady decline in core inflation, estimated after removing volatile food and fuel items from retail inflation, has been critical in weakening the inflationary pressure in the Indian economy," she said. The core inflation rate has declined from 5.1% in April 2023 to 4.3% in October 2023. The minister said retail inflation in India has been mostly within acceptable limits after the notification of the inflation tolerance band in 2016.

[ad_1] India's annual retail inflation rose to 4.81% in June from 4.31% the previous month, government data showed on Wednesday, snapping four months of easing due to surging prices for vegetables. Food inflation, which accounts for nearly half of the overall consumer price basket, rose to 4.49% against a revised 2.96% in May. Erratic and incessant rainfall in northern India could push vegetable prices higher in the coming months. Vegetable prices increased 12% on a month-on-month basis in June. The inflation, however, remains within the Reserve Bank of India's comfort level of below 6 per cent. The government has tasked the central bank to ensure retail inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side. The central bank mainly factors in the CPI to arrive at its bi-monthly monetary policy decision. The next policy review is scheduled early next month. Last month, the Reserve Bank kept policy rates unchanged at 6.5 per cent and projected retail inf