The consumer price index based inflation rose to 5.5% in November 2023 due to a surge in food prices, data by the Statistics Ministry said.
Inflation has been at the fastest pace in three months, and neared the Reserve Bank of India’s upper tolerance band of 6%.
The retail inflation quickened for the first time in four months as food prices climbed, giving the central bank reason to keep interest rates higher for longer.
Food inflation accelerated to 8.7% from 6.61% in October. Prices of vegetables such as onions and tomatoes have surged after erratic rains during the monsoon period led to shortages.
While announcing the decision of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) for the last meet of this Calendar Year, the RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das highlighted that the CPI Inflation for the current year is projected at 5.4% with Q3 at 5.6%, Q4 at 5.2%. For next year, CPI Inflation for Q1 is projected at 5.2%, Q2 at 4% and Q3 at 4.7%.
MPC decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 6.5% ror the fifth monetary policy of this fiscal.
