Retail inflation rises to 4-month high of 4.87% in May

13 Jun 2018 Evaluate

Continuing its rising trend for the second straight month, India’s retail inflation edged higher to 4.87% in the month of May 2018, as compared to 4.58% in April 2018 and 2.18% in May 2017. Rising prices of food items such as vegetables and fruits coupled with high fuel rates lifted the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to a four-month high in the reported month. Further, consumer food price inflation, a metric to gauge changes in monthly kitchen costs, surged to 3.10% in May from 2.80% in the previous month.

As per the data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme, the CPI (Rural, Urban, Combined) on Base 2012=100 for May 2018, stood at 4.88%, 4.72% and 4.87% respectively, compared to 2.30%, 2.13% and 2.18% respectively in May 2017. The index value of CPI for combined stood at 137.8. The data also showed that Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) for all India Rural and Urban for May 2018 stood at 3.85% and 1.66%, respectively, compared to 3.63% and 1.29%, respectively in April 2018. The index value of CFPI for combined stood at 136.5 for the month of May.

According to the data, inflation of food and beverages rose to 3.37% in May 2018 from 3.00% in April 2018. Within the food items, the inflation spiked for vegetables to 8.04%, fruits to 12.33%, Cereals & products to 2.78%, oils and fats to 2.46% and spices to 1.54%. However, the inflation eased for meat and fish to 3.53%, egg to 5.78%, milk and products to 3.20% in May 2018. While, the inflation for clothing and footwear was higher at 5.47%, the CPI inflation of fuel and light surged to 5.80% in May 2018.