New Delhi: India’s annual retail Inflation moderated to an 18-month low in April of 4.7 per cent, coming below the Reserve Bank of India’s upper tolerance level of 6 per cent.

The Consumer food price index (CFPI), which indicates nearly half of the overall consumer price basket, fell down to 3.8 per cent, from 4.79 per cent in March 2023.

Annual change occurring in the consumer price index (CPI) is the method to observe inflation, which cooled down to 4.70 per cent in April from 5.66 per cent, showed government data on Friday, May 12.

Bank regulatory body(RBI) has set a range of 2 per cent to 6 per cent. Consecutively it is the second month that inflation has fallen under the RBI’s tolerance range.

Prediction

Prediction of CPI inflation had fallen to 4.79 per cent in April from 5.66 per cent in March, as per CNBC-TV18’s poll of economists.

According to the National Statistical Office, inflation for April was 3.84 per cent compared to 4.79 per cent in March and 8.31 per cent a year back.

The Reserve Bank of India has projected the CPI inflation to be at 5.2 per cent for FY2023-24, with 5.1 per cent in Q1, 5.4 per cent for Q2, 5.4 per cent for Q3 and 5.2 per cent for Q4 and risks being balanced.

To keep inflation in control and under the tolerance level, RBI since the previous year has raised the critical lending rate, and repo rate by 250 basis points. Moreover, the RBI’s repo rate currently stands at 6.50 per cent.

Currently, the rural inflation stood at 4.68 per cent in April, while the urban inflation was 4.58 per cent.