Lower Food Prices Ease India’s October Retail Inflation

New Delhi: Lower food prices eased India’s October retail inflation to 3.31 per cent from a rise of 3.70 per cent in September, official data showed on Monday. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in October 2018 was lower than in the corresponding period of last year, when retail inflation stood at 3.58 per cent. According to the data furnished by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) deflated (-) 0.86 per cent in October from an expansion of 0.51 per cent in September 2018.

Product-wise, prices of milk-based products, eggs, meat and fish pushed the retail inflation higher on a YoY basis. In contrast, deflation in the cost of vegetables, pulses and sugar capped the overall food prices.

Accordingly, the prices of milk-based products rose by 0.92 per cent, while ‘cereals and products’ became dearer by 2.59 per cent and ‘meat and fish’ prices rose 3.02 per cent. On the other hand, ‘vegetables’ became cheaper by (-) 8.06 per cent, ‘pulses and products’ by (-) 10.28 per cent and ‘sugar and confectionery’ by (-) 7.64 per cent. The sub-category of food and beverages during the month under consideration recorded a decline of (-)0.14 per cent over the same period last year. Among non-food categories, the ‘fuel and light’ segment’s inflation rate accelerated to 8.55 per cent in October. (IANS)

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