India April retail inflation rate climbs for first time in four months

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s annual retail inflation accelerated in April to 4.58 percent, after easing for three straight months, government data showed on Monday, mainly driven by faster increases in fuel prices.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast April’s CPI inflation at 4.42 percent, up from March’s 4.28 percent.

April was the sixth straight month in which inflation was higher than the Reserve Bank of India’s medium-term target of 4 percent.

The Reserve Bank of India’s medium-term target is 4 percent.

Earlier on Monday, the government said that the wholesale price inflation (WPI) in April increased to 3.18 percent, compared with the poll’s forecast of 2.86 percent and March’s level of 2.47 percent.