Retail inflation at four-month low, industrial output not so encouraging

Fruits and vegetable prices increase at a slower pace in April

GN Staff | May 12, 2015


#inflation   #retail inflation   #food   #fruits   #vegetables   #industrial output   #rate cut   #RBI  

While retail inflation in April fell to a four-month low of 4.87 per cent, the annual growth in production at factories, mines and utilities slowed to 2.1 percent in March, the slowest pace since last October.

The retail inflation measured on the basis of Consumer Price Index (CPI) was revised upwards to 5.25 per cent from 5.17 per cent in March 2015.

Fall in food inflation was mainly driven by fruits, vegetables, milk and related products. However, inflation in prepared meals, snacks and sweets category rose to 7.68 per cent.

Prices of fruits and vegetables increased at a slower pace in April with inflation standing at 5.08 per cent and 6.63 per cent, respectively.

The rate of price rise in cereals and products was slower than a month ago at 2.15 per cent, while inflation in milk and its products was at 8.21 per cent.

Inflation in oils and fats category fell to 1.77 per cent in April, sugar and confectionery at (-)5.99 per cent, spices (8.70 per cent) and in non-alcoholic beverages it was 4.68 per cent.

This fall may result in interest rate cut by Reserve Bank of India next month. With inflation staying well below the 6 percent and growth momentum weakening, analysts feel that the RBI may lower lending rates for a third time this year.

The RBI has cut rates by a 50 basis points since January and is due to review them next month. It left rates unchanged in April, saying it would watch for transmission of previous rate cuts and price rises.

Consumer goods output has fallen in nine out of past 12 months. It shrank an annual 0.7 percent in March.
Industrial production grew at a five-month low of 2.1 percent in March even as both manufacturing activity and capital goods' offtake improved during the month.

The factory output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), had contracted by 0.5 percent in March 2014.

For 2014-15 fiscal, industrial production grew at 2.8 percent as against contraction of 0.1 percent in 2013-14, the data released by the Central Statistics Office today showed.

The IIP for February has also been revised downwards to 4.86 percent percent from the provisional estimate of 5 percent released last month.

The IIP had grown at 2.77 percent in January, 3.56 percent in December and 5.2 percent in November. The factory output contracted by 2.7 percent in October.

Comments

 

Other News

Climate actions being implemented to deal with impact of heat waves

India’s climate actions cut across various sectors and are being implemented through various programs and schemes of different union ministries, departments and state/ union territory governments.  The government of India through concerned ministries and departments organises workshops, exhibiti

Banks must hear borrowers before declaring their accounts as frauds: SC

In a judgment with far-reaching implications, the Supreme Court has held that the civil consequences of an account being declared as fraud under the Reserve Bank of India (Frauds Classification and Reporting by Commercial Banks and Select FIs) Directions, 2016 or its Master Directions on Fraud amount to ci

India’s forest cover increases by 5,516 sq km in four years

The Dehradun-based Forest Survey of India (FSI), an organization under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, carries out the assessment of forest cover biennially since 1987 and the findings are published in the India State of Forest Report (ISFR). As per the latest ISFR 2021, there is a

Steps taken to meet higher power demand of April-May

While the average growth of energy requirement in the country for 2023-24 viz-a-viz 2022-23 has been estimated as 4.9%, the months of April and May have been projected as high demand period. During the current year, the peak demand is expected to be around 229 GW during the summer period. The government ha

Millets to make comeback in army ration after half a century

As the UN has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets, the Indian Army has steered introduction of millets flour in the rations of soldiers. This landmark decision will ensure troops are supplied with native and traditional grains after over half a century, when these were discontinued in favour

Central Bank Digital Currency has game-changing potential

When discussing digital currency, you might think of one or two well-known varieties. There is the digital representation of currency that you access with mobile and online banking services. This currency is the liability of a commercial bank. There is also cryptocurrency, a digital medium of exchange issu

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook    Twitter    Google Plus    Linkedin    Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter