With easing prices of some food items, retail inflation of India based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell sharply to 4.59 per cent in December 2020 as compared to 6.93 per cent in November 2020 and 7.35 per cent in December 2019. The December CPI data has come within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) upper margin of 6 per cent. The government has mandated the central bank to keep retail inflation within the range of 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.
The National Statistical Office (NSO) under Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in its data has showed that the Rural CPI (General) in December stood at 4.07 per cent as against 7.20 per cent in November. The Urban CPI (General) stood at 5.19 per cent in December as against 6.73 per cent in November. The index value for Rural, Urban and Combined CPI (General) stood at 158.5, 156.0 and 157.3, respectively, in December 2020.
The Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) or the inflation in the food basket eased to 3.41 per cent in the month of December, down from 9.50 per cent in November. The data indicated that the Rural CFPI stood at 3.11 per cent in December as compared to 9.64 per cent in November. The Urban CFPI stood at 4.08 per cent in December as against 9.23 per cent in November. The index value for Rural, Urban and Combined CFPI stood at 159.1, 163.4 and 160.6, respectively, in December 2020.
The 3.41 per cent growth in the food basket was due to a fall in vegetable prices that slipped (-) 10.41 per cent on-year rise in December. Apart from vegetables, other prices were however positive. The oils and fats segment saw a rise of 20.05 per cent, while that of eggs rose 16.08 per cent and pulses and products prices gained 15.98 per cent. The meat and fish segment also witnessed a rise of 15.21 per cent.