Retail inflation for industrial workers marginally eased to 5.14 per cent in April compared to 5.64 per cent in March, mainly due to lower prices of certain food items. Year-on-year inflation for the month (April) stood at 5.14 per cent compared to 5.64 per cent for the previous month and 5.45 per cent during the corresponding month of the previous year, the labour ministry said in a statement on Monday. According to the statement, food inflation stood at 4.78 per cent in April against 5.36 per cent in the previous month. The same was at 6.56 per cent in April 2020. The All-India CPI-IW (Consumer Price Index-Industrial Workers) for April 2021 increased by 0.5 points and stood at 120.1 points from 119.6 points in March.
Read more about Eight core sectors output grows 56% in April on low base effect on Business Standard. In March this year, the eight sectors had recorded a growth rate of 11.4 per cent.
Read more about India s second Covid-19 wave rattles business confidence: Survey on Business Standard. India is set to announce gross domestic product data for the January-to-March quarter on Monday.
Read more about OECD sees 5.8% global GDP growth in 2021 on vaccine rollouts, US stimulus on Business Standard. The OECD said central banks in advanced economies should keep financial conditions relaxed and tolerate inflation overshooting their targets.
India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has said that Covid 2.0 s impact on the economy in the current financial year will be felt more through loss of demand impulse than supply-side disruptions. Besides, the loss of demand-side impulse is expected to be more pronounced in rural areas than in urban areas, notwithstanding the forecast of a near-normal monsoon this year. Covid 1.0 was largely an urban phenomenon despite the large-scale reverse labour migration. Ind-Ra said what saved rural areas was timely arrangements state governments had put up to quarantine migrant labours before letting them enter their homes and intermingle with the local population.