India s February retail inflation rises to 3.65% (Lead)

New Delhi March 14 (IANS) India s annual retail inflation rose to 3.65 per cent in February from 3.17 per cent during the previous month official data showed on Tuesday.

However the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed that the index had risen by 5.26 per cent during the corresponding period of last year.

According to CPI data the rise in retail inflation was mainly due to a surge in the annual food inflation by 2.01 per cent last month from 0.61 per cent in January.

The CPI data revealed that the annual retail inflation for rural India was 3.67 per cent while that for the urban centres was 3.55 per cent. The annual food inflation was 2.08 per cent in rural areas and 1.87 per cent in the urban areas.

--IANS
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