Retail inflation rose to a three-month high of 4.81 per cent in June, mainly on account of higher foods inflation especially prices of cereals and pulses, though it remained within the 4+/- 2 percent band of Reserve Bank of India’s medium-term inflation target, data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Wednesday showed. Meanwhile, India’s factory output grew to a three-month high of 5.2 per cent in May as against 4.5 per cent growth in April, primarily due to pickup in manufacturing and mining output, according to separately released data by the NSO.
The Consumer Price Index (Combined)-based inflation moved up after moderating for four months since February. The RBI, which will be announcing its next bi-monthly monetary policy early next month, mainly factors in the retail inflation while deciding the benchmark interest rate (repo).