Core Inflation

A call to dismantle them when the world hasn't done so is economic hara-kiri

"High core inflation also points to the cost-price nexus in the economy more sharply," Bhide said, adding that stabilizing core prices was necessary for manufacturing firms to expand their capacities

Globally, too, sticky inflation seems to be a cause for concern. Last week, two Federal Reserve (US Fed) officials suggested that the US central bank may need to keep interest rates elevated ahead

Core inflation, that excludes food and fuel prices, remained sticky above the 6% mark

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and fuel prices, was still running at 6.10% in December, which makes it difficult for the RBI to look away and to keep the tightening cycle going

RBI monetary policy: In December, Das had said that despite consecutive rate hikes, core inflation had continued to remain 'sticky'

S&P Global Ratings on Tuesday said core inflation in India has been declining sequentially, and an elevated 6.25 per cent policy rate limits the need for further rate hikes. The Reserve Bank has increased the short-term lending rate by 225 basis points since May last year to contain inflation, mostly driven by external factors, especially global supply chain disruption, following the Russia-Ukraine war outbreak. The policy rate now stands at 6.25 per cent. The RBI's rate-setting panel - Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) - will decide on the interest rate on Wednesday. "In India, core inflation has been elevated for longer; however, it eased sequentially in the second half of 2022. An already elevated 6.25 per cent policy rate limits the need for further increases," S&P said in a report. The RBI has been tasked to ensure that retail inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent. However, external factors have led retail inflation to remain above the upper tolerance .

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Core inflation, calculated after stripping out volatile food and energy prices, has stayed above 6% for 14 months in a row, while retail inflation cooled to 5.88% in November

In terms of food prices, India seems to be doing much better than the Western economies, owing to it being less dependent on imports

Fruits and vegetables, protein-rich items such as eggs, meat and fish drag down prices; Core inflation eases for seventh consecutive month to 3.5%

The overall CPI increased 0.1 per cent from the prior month and was up 7.1 per cent from a year earlier, as lower energy prices helped offset rising food costs

Core inflation inches up; manufacturing activity declines

Rate of core price rise has been over 5% for over two years and remained over 6% for five months till Oct

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently released a regional economic outlook (REO) on Asia and Pacific, in which it cut the growth projections for the region

The Reserve Bank of India last month also revised its growth forecast for FY23 to 7 per cent from 7.2 per cent estimated earlier

While the govt has introduced windfall tax and export curbs to arrest runaway prices, a lot depends on how the monsoon pans out this season

The dent due to rising petrol and diesel prices comes at a time when most households across the country are grappling with higher medical expenses due to the Covid pandemic and rising commodity prices

Core inflation refers to inflation with price rise in fuels and food items left out.

Consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation rose to 5.52 per cent in March, from 5.03 per cent in February. Core inflation was at 5.7 per cent.