Credit Suisse sees retail inflation falling to 8.2 per cent in February

MUMBAI: Leading foreign brokerage Credit Suisse has said it expects retail inflation to fall further to 8.2 per cent in February from 8.8 per cent in the previous month, but warned that core inflation may remain elevated.

The government will release both the consumer price as well as wholesale price-based inflation data later this week.

"We expect CPI inflation to moderate further to 8.2 per cent in February from 8.8 per cent in January, driven by a fall in food price inflation. However, the core inflation is expected to remain elevated," Credit Suisse chief economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde said in a note today.

It can be noted that the Urjit Patel committee report of the Reserve Bank has set an 8 per cent retail inflation reading by January next year and 6 per cent in January 2016. Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan, who increased lending rates by 25 bps each in three of the past four reviews, has been citing core inflation as a major reason for the overall price index to remain high.