(LiveMint)
India’s factory output grew at a robust 7.1% in December on the back of high manufacturing production while retail inflation slowed to 5.07% in January as food inflation softened, according to government data released on Monday.
In November, the index of industrial production (IIP) grew 8.8% and consumer price index (CPI) based inflation rose by 5.21% in December. Food inflation softened to 4.58% in January from 4.85% a month ago. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday kept interest rates unchanged and warned that inflation risks were skewing upwards. The central bank raised its March quarter CPI inflation forecast to 5.1% and projected an inflation range of 5.1-5.6% in the first half of the next fiscal year. However, RBI posits a revival in growth—projecting an acceleration in economic growth to 7.2% from a level of 6.6% in the current fiscal year. It premises this on a host of factors including revival in investment demand and strengthening exports.
