Feb retail inflation eases marginally to 6.44%, remain above RBI's comfort zone

Consumer Price Index or retail inflation has come in at 6.44% for the month of February, which is higher than what economists were expecting. Although this number is marginally lower than January's 6.52%, it is still well above the upper end of Reserve Bank of India's target of 6%.

Food inflation came in at 5.95%, within foods it was cereals that saw the highest spike, coming in at 16.73%. Meanwhile prices in the fuel and light segment rose by 9.9%.

Core inflation has remained above the 6% mark for over a year now.

RBI has been aggressively increasing the repo rate in an effort to curb inflation. Interest rates have been hiked by 250 basis points (2.5%) since May 2022. In the previous credit policy announcement, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das made it clear that further rate hikes could not be ruled out. The governor also said that inflationary pressures remained a concern and that the there would be no easing up in the fight against inflation.