Food price pressure major obstacle for 4% inflation target

Mumbai: Food price pressures is an obstacle in swifter fall in retail inflation to the Reserve Bank’s target of four per cent, said an article on the ‘State of Economy’ in the central bank’s March Bulletin published on Tuesday. Retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) is on a decline since December and was at 5.09 per cent in February. “Even as inflation is on the ebb with broad-based softening of core inflation, the repetitive incidence of short amplitude food price pressures deters a swifter fall in headline inflation towards the target of four per cent,” said the article authored by a team lead by RBI Deputy Governor Michael Debabrata Patra.