Retail inflation rises marginally to 4.48 pc in Oct

New Delhi: Retail inflation inched up to 4.48 per cent in October due to an uptick in food prices, government data showed on Friday.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation was at 4.35 per cent in September and 7.61 per cent in October 2020.

According to the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), inflation in food basket rose to 0.85 per cent in October, compared to 0.68 per cent in the preceding month.

The Reserve Bank, which mainly factors in CPI-based inflation while arriving at its bi-monthly monetary policy, has been tasked by the government to keep it at 4 per cent, with a tolerance band of 2 per cent on either side.

The RBI has projected the CPI inflation at 5.3 per cent for 2021-22: 5.1 per cent in second quarter, 4.5 per cent in third; 5.8 per cent in last quarter of the fiscal, with risks broadly balanced. The retail inflation during April-June period of 2022-23 is projected at 5.2 per cent.