Retail inflation gallops to 5.54% in November

India's retail inflation rate in November stood at 5.54 percent, according to data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on December 12.

Retail inflation for October stood at 4.62 percent in October.

Food prices, which is a gauge to measure changes in kitchen budgets, grew 10.01 percent in November, against 7.89 percent in October. Inflation rate in cereals and products stood at 3.71 percent against 2.16 percent a month ago. Vegetables inflation for November stood at 36 percent against 26 percent in October.

Core inflation (excluding food and oil) remained unchanged at 3.5 percent.

Pulses and products recorded an inflation of 13.94 percent in November against 11.72 percent in October.

Prices of meat and fish rose by 9.38 percent annually and of eggs by 6.2 percent in November.

In the fuel and light category, prices dropped by 1.93 percent.

In its December policy review, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) maintained status quo, for the first time this year, on higher inflation expectations even as economic growth is likely to weaken going ahead.

The RBI also revised downwards its GDP growth target for current financial year from 6.1 percent in the October policy to 5 percent.

Data released just days before the MPC meeting showed that GDP growth rate in July-September quarter slipped to six-year low of 4.5 percent on the back of weak consumer demand and slow manufacturing activity.

Gross Value Added (GVA), which is GDP minus taxes and is seen as a more realistic gauge to measure economic activity, grew 4.3 percent in July-September 2019, compared to 4.9 percent in the previous quarter and 6.9 percent in the second quarter of the previous year.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had said that the government is expected to announce more measures aimed at labour reforms and ease of doing business to address impediments to growth.