Retail inflation rises to 6-month high, poses uncertainty for rate cut

The beginning of the financial year 2019-20 saw a bit of rising inflationary pressures, but the rate of price rise was still below the average of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) mandate of 2-6 per cent. Experts are divided whether the monetary policy committee (MPC) of the RBI will cut the policy rate in June.

The retail price inflation rose to a six-month high of 2.92 per cent in April, pushed up by costlier food items. However, food inflation was still 1.1 per cent in the month against 0.3 per cent in the previous month.

It was in March that food