At 2.86%, CPI inflation at 5-month high in March on high food prices

The retail inflation rate touched a five-month high of 2.86 per cent in March, helped by the prices of food and health services.

The inflation rate, however, remained within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) overall target range of 2-6 per cent, prompting economists to expect another 25-50 basis points’ cut in the policy rate by the monetary policy committee in 2019-20, though not in the next policy.

The food inflation rate rose to 0.30 per cent in March after witnessing a contraction in the past five months. In February, the food deflation rate stood at 0.73 per cent. This pushed up