Easing food prices lower inflation to 5-mth low of 4.31% in Jan

New Delhi: Continuing the downward trend, retail inflation fell to a five-month low of 4.31 per cent in January, mainly due to a decline in the prices of vegetables, eggs, and pulses.The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based retail inflation was 5.22 per cent in December and 5.1 per cent in January 2024. The previous low inflation was in August 2024 at 3.65 per cent. The Consumer Price Index has been on a decline since October. The inflation in the food basket was 6.02 per cent in January, the lowest after August 2024 when it was 5.66 per cent. There is a decline of 91 basis points in headline inflation of January 2025 in comparison to December 2024 and it is the lowest year-on-year inflation after August 2024, the NSO data showed.

According to the data, the top five items showing the highest year on year inflation were coconut oil (54.2 per cent), potato (49.61 per cent), coconut (38.71 per cent), garlic (30.65 per cent), peas (30.17 per cent). On the other hand, the key items having the lowest year on year inflation in January were jeera (-32.25 per cent), ginger (-30.92 per cent), dry chilies (-11.27 per cent), brinjal (-9.94 per cent), LPG (excluding conveyance) (-9.29 per cent).

Last week, the Reserve Bank years effected a rate cut of 25 basis points after a gap of five years to spur growth as inflation was in its comfort zone.