Nov retail inflation rises to 0.71% from Oct series-low

PROSPECTS OF FEBRUARY RATE CUT BRIGHTEN

- MUKESH JAGOTA

INFLATION, MEASURED BY the consumer price index (CPI), rose sequentially from a series low of 0.25% in October to 0.71% in November, under the twin impact of a waning favourable base and an easing of deflation in food prices.

Core inflation, excluding precious metals, was benign at 2.4%, indicating that the price pressures for mass consumption items were not building up in a serious way in the second month of the current quarter. The Reserve Bank of India's sharp downward revision of the inflation forecast for the October-December quarter to 0.6% from 1.8% seems to hold good.