Why is it in the news?

• India’s retail inflation remained steady at 5.09% in February, with expectations for it to stay within the 5.1%-5.2% range in March as well.

More about the news

• Food prices experienced a resurgence, with consumer food price inflation (CFPI) rising from 8.3% in January to 8.66% in February, primarily driven by a sharp increase in vegetable prices, which rose at a seven-month high pace of 30.25%.
• Inflation measured by CFPI accelerated for urban and rural residents, with urban inflation easing slightly from 4.9% to 4.8% in February, while rural inflation remained unchanged at 5.34%.
• Persistently high food inflation may elevate average inflation for the last quarter above the 5% average projected by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• With high food inflation, hopes for interest rate cuts may diminish, especially as the RBI projects price rise to average 5% in the April to June quarter.
• Core inflation, excluding food and energy costs, remained below 4% for the third consecutive month, suggesting stable underlying inflationary pressures.
• Inflation varied across states, with four states experiencing inflation above the RBI’s upper tolerance threshold of 6%, while others recorded inflation above the national average of 5.1%.
• Delhi and Madhya Pradesh recorded the lowest inflation rates, while Odisha had the highest inflation rate at 7.55%, indicating regional disparities in price dynamics.