Consumer Price Inflation

Factory deflation extended into a 29th month, though the producer price index recorded a slower drop of 2.2 per cent compared to January's negative 2.3 per cent

A combination of job insecurity, a prolonged housing downturn, debt and tariff threats from the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump has hit demand

Even under ambitious climate policies, lower-income countries would see consumer food prices rise 2.45 times by 2050 while producer prices would rise 3.3 times, a study has found. While the rise in consumer prices is less pronounced for farmers in lower-income countries, it would still make it harder for people in these countries to afford sufficient and healthy food, said researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Germany. "In high-income countries like the US or Germany, farmers receive less than a quarter of food spending, compared to over 70 per cent in Sub-Saharan Africa, where farming costs make up a larger portion of food prices," said David Meng-Chuen Chen, a PIK scientist and lead author of the study published in Nature Food. "This gap underscores how differently food systems function across regions," he said. The researchers projected that as economies develop and food systems industrialise, farmers will increasingly receive a smaller share

Annual retail inflation as measured by the CPI likely rose a second straight month to 5.81% in October, the highest since August 2023, says Reuters poll

Officials are depressingly hesitant to touch anything to do with food production and prices, since these are particularly sensitive politically

Food inflation remained declined to 5.42 per cent in July from 9.36 per cent in June

On the surface, India's economy seems to be cruising along, but it is on the commonplace road to prosperity failure

Beijing has sought to revive consumption after a stuttering post-Covid recovery, but concerns are lingering over more fundamental issues including a protracted housing downturn

Trump brushed aside claims his policies would raise US inflation, and cause pain for American consumers

The cost of living rose faster in 13 states in the last month compared to the national print of 4.83 per cent. Odisha registered the highest rate of inflation among the states at 7.11 per cent

While headline inflation has moderated in recent months, food prices, which account for nearly half the consumer price index (CPI) basket, have remained elevated, squeezing household budgets

Policymakers' preferred inflation gauge - the personal consumption expenditures price index - probably stayed elevated in March, according to data due in the coming week

Among Brics countries, Brazil, China, and India have shown a decline compared to the previous month and Russia has seen an uptick

Persistent declines in factory-gate prices and export prices, meanwhile, have added to tensions with China's biggest trading partners

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said last week that food price volatility remains a concern

Inflation was expected to return to the RBI's target next quarter but be above it in subsequent quarters, according to a separate Reuters survey on the longer-term outlook

US employers hired far more workers than expected in March and raised wages at a steady clip, the Labor Department said

Rises in food prices, which make up almost half of the consumer price index (CPI) basket and experience sharp swings often due to uneven monsoons, have recently outpaced overall inflation

The local currency strengthened for the eighth consecutive trading session on Friday; it touched an intraday high of 82.86 per dollar before settling at 82.92, compared to 83.03 on Thursday

The finance ministry of Tuesday said the inflation in food items is likely to be transitory as preemptive measures by the government and arrival of fresh crops will cool prices, even though global uncertainty and domestic disruptions may keep inflationary pressures elevated for the coming months. In its Monthly Economic Review for July, the ministry said going forward, while domestic consumption and investment demand are expected to continue driving growth, enhanced provision for capital expenditure by the government in the current fiscal is now leading to crowding in of private investment. The consumer price index based retail inflation spiked to a 15-month high of 7.44 per cent in July 2023, with specific food commodities mainly driving the increase. Core inflation, however, stayed at a 39-month low of 4.9 per cent. Cereals, pulses and vegetables exhibited double-digit growth in July compared to the corresponding period last year. Disruption in domestic production also aggravated