The annual rate of inflation is 12.96 per cent (provisional) for the month of January, a decline from the 13.56 per cent recorded in the previous month.
“The high rate of inflation in January is primarily due to rise in prices of mineral oils, crude petroleum & natural gas, basic metals, chemicals, and chemical products, food articles etc as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year,” said an official news release.
Asked to comment, the Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said the “momentum of inflation is on a downward slope” and said the Central Bank will strike a delicate balance between the need to contain price rise and ensure economic growth.
