India's Retail Inflation Falls To Over 5-Year Low Of 3.34 Per Cent In March

India's retail inflation dropped to its lowest level in over five years in March, driven by easing food prices — raising expectations that the RBI may reduce interest rates to bolster growth amid global headwinds, Times of India reported.

According to NSO data released Wednesday (16 April), the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.3 per cent in March — down from 3.6 per cent in February and significantly lower than 4.9 per cent a year ago.

Food inflation fell to 2.7 per cent in March from 3.8 per cent in February, a sharp drop from 8.5 per cent seen in the same month last year.

Inflation rates in rural and urban areas stood close to each other, at 3.25 per cent and 3.43 per cent respectively in March.

Headline inflation declined by 27 basis points in March compared to February, marking the lowest year-on-year figure since August 2019.

Food inflation saw a steeper drop of 106 basis points month-on-month — hitting its lowest level since November 2021.

The March dip in both headline and food inflation was driven by falling prices of vegetables, pulses, cereals, eggs, meat, fish, and milk.

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