Retail inflation remains stable, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in Lok Sabha

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in the Lok Sabha on Monday that retail inflation has remained stable and the rise in it at times is due to global factors and adverse weather. Sitharaman said India's retail inflation averaged 7.1 percent in April-October, 2022, which has declined to 5.4 percent in 2023.

Sitharaman said retail inflation is now stable and within the RBI's tolerable range of two to six per cent. He said that there has been a steady decline in core inflation after removing food and fuel items from retail inflation. Core inflation has declined from 5.1 per cent in April 2023 to 4.3 per cent in October 2023.

Sitharaman said- "On some occasions, temporary increases in inflation are caused by demand-supply mismatches arising from global shocks and adverse weather conditions."

Minister of State for Labor and Employment Rameshwar Teli told the Lok Sabha on Monday that the Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has invested Rs 27,105 crore in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) during the current financial year till October. An investment of Rs 53,081 crore was made in the ETF during the financial year 2022-23. The total corpus of various funds managed by EPFO as of March 31 last year was Rs 18.30 lakh crore.