Retail inflation rises sharply to 7.35% in Dec 2019 from 5.54% in Nov

In Nov, retail inflation had jumped to a more than three-year high of 5.54 per cent on costlier food products

Retail inflation rose to about five-and-half year high of 7.35 per cent in December 2019, surpassing the RBI's comfort level, mainly due to spiralling prices of vegetables as onions were selling costlier.

The unexpected jump in inflation diminished the chances of the RBI cutting interest rate at its next monetary policy review due in early February.

As per the data released by National Statistical Office (NSO) on Monday, the spike in inflation in the vegetable segment was 60.5 per cent during the month compared to December 2018.

The overall retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 2.11 per cent in December