Higher fuel prices drive up March CPI to five-month high at 3.81%

Food prices rose 1.93% on the year, slower than a 2.01% annual increase in February

Higher fuel costs drove up India’s retail inflation to its highest level in five months in March, data showed, vindicating a central bank decision last week to keep its policy rate on hold amid concern about price pressures. Consumer prices rose by an annual 3.81 per cent, their fastest pace since October 2016, compared with February's 3.65 per cent, the Ministry of Statistics said on Wednesday.

The rise was lower than the 3.98 per cent forecast by economists in a Reuters' poll.

Retail fuel inflation accelerated to 5.56 per cent from 3.90 while gains in food prices slowed to