New Delhi:
Retail inflation spiked to a seven-month high of 3.05 per cent in May mainly due to costlier food items, government data showed on Wednesday.
The consumer price index (CPI) based retail inflation for April was revised marginally upwards to 2.99 per cent from the earlier estimate of 2.92 per cent, data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed.
Retail inflation stood at 4.87 per cent in May 2018.
The previous high was in October 2018, when the retail inflation print came in at 3.38 per cent. As per the data, inflation in the food basket rose to 1.83 per cent in May, higher than 1.1 per cent in April. Retail inflation is a crucial data point, keenly watched by the Reserve Bank while deciding its monetary policy.
Retail inflation picked up marginally to 2.92 per cent in April from 2.86 per cent in March following a spike in food prices. The inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) 2.86 per cent in the previous month and 4.58 per cent in April 2018, according to the data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
(With inputs from PTI)
