Retail inflation hits 17-month high in January

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's annual consumer price inflation edged up to a 17-month high of 5.69 percent in January, driven up by higher food costs, government data showed on Friday.

Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast retail inflation would ease to 5.4 percent from 5.61 percent in December.

Retail food prices last month were up 6.85 percent on year, compared with a 6.40 percent recorded in December.

(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Malini Menon)