Retail inflation dips to 4.4% in February

Retail inflation has dipped to 4(point)44 per cent in February from 5(point)07 per cent in January. According to the Central Statistics Office data released on Monday, inflation in vegetables was 17.57 per cent as against 26.97 per cent, and for fruits, it was 4.80 per cent, down from 6.24 per cent.

Inflation for the fuel and light category was at 6.80 per cent in February as against 7.73 per cent in January.The rate of price increase was, however, higher for transport and communication services at 2.39 per cent as against 1.97 per



cent.

The Industrial Production expanded by 7.5 per cent in January compared to 3.5 percent in the same month last year.The growth was mainly on account of uptick in manufacturing sector which constitutes 77.63 per cent of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). It grew by 8.7 per cent during the month as compared to 2.5 per cent in January last year.

Capital and Consumer non-durable goods also showed a sharp increase. However, the mining sector saw a flat growth.

IIP had grown at 7.1 per cent in December last year.