India’s retail inflation rose more than expected in June on higher food prices
NEW DELHI -Surgingacceleratedannualrate in, snapping four months of easing and erasing any chance of a rate cut by the central bank this year.
rose to 4.81 percent,both the revised 4.31 percent for the previous month and the 4.58 percentin a Reuters poll of 55 economists.
, which accounts for nearly half of the overall consumer price basket, rose to 4.49 percent against a revised 2.96 percent in May.
Erratic and incessant rainfall in northern India could push vegetablein the coming months. They increased 12 percent on a month-on-month basis in.
“A less supportive base and the onset of the spike in vegetablepushed up the CPIto aanticipated 4.8 percent,” said Aditi Nayar, economist at ICRA.
of vegetables will remain high in July and may pushto an “uncomfortable 5.3 percent-5.5 percent” this month, Nayar added.
Tomatoin particular rose sharply, leading to fastchain McDonald’s dropping them from its burgers and wraps in many areas of India.
Core, which strips out volatileand energy, remained below 6 percent for a fourth consecutive month.
According to three economists’ estimates, corewas between 5.1 percent and 5.4 percent in, compared with 5.02 percent in May.
The Indian government does not release figures of core.
Last month, the Reserve Bank of India kept its rates on hold for the second straight meeting, saying it would focus on anchoringclose to 4 percent, the mid-point of its 2 percent-6 percent target range. Economists polled by Reuters expect rates to remain on hold through 2023.
“We expect the monetary policy committee to see through the short-term spike inand remain on prolonged pause,” said Garima Kapoor, economist at Elara Capital.
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