Oct retail inflation near 10-yr low: Poll

INDIA'S CONSUMER INFLATION rate likely plunged to the lowest in at least a decade in October on a sustained fall in food prices, and intensified by a higher base of comparison last year, according to the median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.

- REUTERS

Some economists argued that a cut in the Goods and Services Tax, effective from late September, also contributed to the decline. Others said this may mark the trough in inflation.

Inflation is cooling rapidly even as the latest official data showed Asia’s third-largest economy grew nearly 8% in the April-June quarter, with the Reserve Bank of India expected to cut interest rates again next month. Vegetable prices have fallen by double digits for six consecutive months on an annual basis, keeping overall food inflation, which accounts for nearly half of the consumer price index (CPI) basket, in check.