Retail Inflation Rises To 15-Month High, Industrial Output Growth Slows

Retail or consumer inflation increased sharply to 15-month high of 4.88 per cent in November, from 3.58 per cent in October. The November inflation number is higher than the Reserve Bank's 4 per cent medium-term target, reducing the room for the central bank to cut rates in near future. Economists polled by Reuters had predicted consumer inflation to rise to 4.2 per cent in November, following unseasonably heavy rains that sent food prices soaring.