RBI revises upwards retail inflation projection to 6.5 pc for Jan-Mar qtr of this fiscal

The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday revised upwards its retail inflation projection for the last quarter of the current fiscal to 6.5 percent owing to likely increase in input costs for milk and pulses amid volatile crude oil prices. Going forward, the inflation outlook is likely to be influenced by several factors like food inflation, crude prices and input costs for services, RBI said.

On food inflation, RBI said it is likely to soften from the high levels registered in December and the decline is expected to become more pronounced during the fourth quarter of this fiscal as onion prices ease following arrivals of late kharif and rabi harvests, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its last bi-monthly monetary policy revealed on Thursday. Besides, crude prices are likely to remain volatile due to unabated geo-political tensions in the Middle East on one hand, and uncertain global economic outlook on the other.

Moreover, there has been an increase in input costs for services, in recent months, it added. The RBI has kept the key repo rate unchanged to 5.15 percent.

"Taking into consideration these factors, and under the assumption of a normal south west monsoon in 2020-21, the CPI inflation projection is revised upwards to 6.5 percent for Q4:2019-20 (January-March 2020); 5.4-5 percent for H1:2020-21 (April-September 2020); and 3.2 percent for Q3:2020-21 (October-December), with risks broadly balanced," RBI said. The recent pick-up in prices of non-vegetable food items, specifically in milk due to a rise in input costs, and pulses due to a shortfall in kharif production, are all likely to sustain, RBI said.

RBI further said that the actual inflation outcome for Q2 at 5.8 percent overshot projections by 70 bps, primarily due to the intensification of the "onion price shock" in December 2019 on account of unseasonal rains in October-November. In its previous monetary policy in December 2019 as well, the RBI had raised its inflation projection to 5.1-4.7 percent for the second half of the current fiscal on the back of spike in prices of vegetables such as onion and tomatoes.

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