Extreme weather major risk to inflation: RBI
Further, prolonged geopolitical tensions could keep crude oil prices volatile: RBI bulletin
Mumbai: Extreme weather conditions may pose a risk to inflation, along with prolonged geopolitical tensions that could keep crude oil prices volatile, the Reserve Bank’s April Bulletin said on Tuesday.
The retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has eased to 4.9 per cent in March after averaging 5.1 per cent in the preceding two months. The Reserve Bank, which mainly factors in CPI while arriving at its bi-monthly monetary policy, has kept the key interest rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent since February 2023, citing concerns on the inflation front.
An article on ‘State of the Economy’ published in the Bulletin further said global growth momentum has been sustained in the first quarter of 2024, and the outlook for world trade is turning positive. Treasury yields and mortgage rates are ticking up in major economies as expectations of interest rate cuts are being pared.
