Retaining retail inflation at 4% an unaccomplished dream since 2019-20

The target was achieved in the first two and a half years of implementing inflation targeting in Oct 2016, but the inflation rate remained above the goal

Though six per cent retail inflation is the upper tolerance level for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), it is the four per cent mark the central bank strives to achieve. But it eluded the RBI most years since inflation targeting was introduced from October 2016.

The target was achieved in the first two and a half years of implementing inflation targeting, but the inflation rate remained above the goal.

However, the rate was only slightly higher at 4.76 per cent in 2019-20. Since then, it has been way off the mark. In fact, it breached the comfortable level of