India's retail inflation eases to 12-month low of 4.75% in May

India's retail inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), eased to a 12-month low of 4.75% in May 2024 compared to 4.83% in April, according to data released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Wednesday (June 12).

According to the CNBC-TV18 Poll of Economists, the forecast CPI was estimated at 4.90%. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based retail inflation was 4.83% in April 2024 and 4.31% in May 2023 (previous low).

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Inflation in the food basket was 8.69% in May, marginally down from 8.70% in April. Headline inflation has seen sequential moderation since February 2024, albeit in a narrow range from 5.1% in February to 4.8% in April 2024.

The government has tasked the Reserve Bank to ensure the CPI inflation remains at 4% with a margin of 2% on either side. Earlier this month, the RBI projected the CPI inflation for 2024-25 at 4.5%, with Q1 at 4.9%, Q2 at 3.8%, Q3 at 4.6%, and Q4 at 4.5%. The central bank mainly factors in retail inflation while arriving at its bi-monthly monetary policy.