Food prices push retail inflation to 8-month high of 7.34% in Sept

Inflation above RBI's comfort zone of 6% for six straight months, Q2 inflation slightly higher than MPC's projection, MPC may refrain from cutting rate in December policy too

Pushed up by the double-digit food inflation, the retail price inflation rate rose to an eight-month high of 7.34 per cent in September from 6.69 per cent in August. This was the sixth consecutive month that the inflation rate remained above the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) comfort zone of 6 per cent. 

As a result, the central bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) might not cut the repo rate in its December review as well.

In fact, the consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation rate stood moderately higher at 6.92 per cent in the second quarter (Q2) of 2020-21 than the