March Retail Inflation Falls To Lowest Since August 2019, Led By Sharp Drop In Food Prices Including Eggs, Meat, And Fish

In March, retail inflation slightly decreased from 3.61 per cent in February to 3.34 per cent. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation called it the lowest year-on-year inflation after August 2019.

In August 2019, the inflation rate was 3.28 per cent, NDTV reported. The nearly six-year low inflation was primarily due to a drop in the prices of vegetables and items rich in protein, including eggs, pulses and products, meat and fish and milk and products.

"A sharp decline of 106 basis points is observed in food inflation in March 2025 in comparison to February 2025. The food inflation in March 2025 is the lowest after November 2021," the release said.

Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). It was 4.85 per cent in March of the previous year. In response to decreasing inflation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently cut the primary short-term lending rate (repo) by 25 basis points.

The inflation rate for food in March 2025 came in at 2.69 per cent, a decrease from February's 3.75 per cent and significantly lower than the 8.52 per cent recorded in March 2024.

The RBI have forecast CPI inflation for the 2025-26 fiscal year to be 4 per cent, with the first quarter at 3.6 per cent, the second quarter at 3.9 per cent, the third quarter at 3.8 per cent, and the fourth quarter at 4.4 per cent. The risks are considered to be equally distributed.

Government data released on Tuesday revealed that wholesale price inflation fell to a six-month low of 2.05 per cent in March. This decrease was due to the easing prices of vegetables, potatoes, and other food items.

Inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) stood at 2.38 percent in February, a significant increase from the 0.26 percent recorded in March of the previous year.