Inflation cooled to 5% in September
The HinduIndia’s retail inflation eased from 6.83% in August to 5.02% in September, breaking a two-month streak over the tolerance threshold of the Reserve Bank of India, with the rise in food prices easing to 6.6% from almost 10%. Rural inflation stood at 5.33% in September, compared to 7% in August, while the price rise faced by urban consumers moderated more sharply to 4.65% last month from 6.6% in August. LPG rate cut impact The LPG cylinder price cuts unveiled by the Centre last month pushed the year-on-year inflation in fuel and light prices for households from 4.3% in August to -0.1% in September. Base effects from September 2022, when consumer prices rose 7.4%, also helped ease the inflation rate, which was lower than economists’ expectations, but almost in line with the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee’s projections. Milk inflation eased slightly from 7.7% in August to 6.9% in September, but some other key protein sources such as eggs, meat and fish clocked higher inflation last month.