Retail inflation rises to 3.21% in Feb, stays within RBI’s comfort zone

New Delhi: Retail inflation moved up to 3.21 per cent in February compared to 2.74 per cent in the preceding month, driven mainly by higher food prices, showed government data released on Thursday.

However, the consumer price index (CPI) based retail inflation stayed within the Reserve Bank’s target of 2-4 per cent. The government has mandated the central bank to ensure inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.

The February inflation data is based on the new CPI series with base year 2024 released last month. Food inflation in February rose sequentially to 3.47 per cent from 2.13 per cent in January.

The major items that witnessed a high pace of price hike were ‘silver, gold, diamond, platinum jewellery’, coconut-copra, tomato, and cauliflower. On the other hand, there was disinflation in garlic, onion, potato, arhar, and litchi.Inflation rates for rural and urban areas were at 3.37 per cent and 3.02 per cent, respectively.