Data suggests broad-based increase in food prices: RBI Bulletin

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more.

Unlock these with Subscription

The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective.

First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming.

Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day.

Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in!

Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers

THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers

Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there

Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary.

The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features.

Updated - October 23, 2026 08:01 pm IST - MUMBAI

GDP growth has been supported by sustained domestic demand and services, RBI officials said.

File | Photo Credit: Reuters

High-frequency data collected by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for October (till 19th), suggest a broad-based increase in food prices, said RBI officials in the October edition of RBI Bulletin, which was released on Friday (October 23, 2026).

“Among cereals, rice and wheat prices continued to increase.

Prices of major pulses also went up sequentially.

Edible oil prices also recorded a slow and broad-based increase, led by mustard and palm oil,” they wrote in the ‘State of the Economy’ article.

Among vegetables, while potato prices declined and the pace of onion price increases dropped, tomato prices picked up, they added.

Surprisingly, inflation in rural areas has been getting higher than that in urban areas.

Inflation stood at 4.9% and 6.1%, respectively, in urban and rural areas in September.

In August, urban and rural inflation stood at 4.3% and 5.2% respectively, the officials stated.

ALSO WATCH The battle against inflation is entering a tougher phase: What it means for you

The majority of States/UTs recorded inflation in the range of 4-6% in September.

Inflation ranged from 2.9% to 6.9% across states/UTs.

States like Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry recorded inflation in excess of 6% across both rural and urban areas, they pointed out.

Stating that WPI inflation recorded its first double-digit rate in the new series (Base 2022-23) at 11.4% in September 2026, rising from 9.9% in August, reflecting a broad-based increase in prices, they said industrial and farm input costs remained elevated.

Inflation in the Output Producer Price Index surged to 11.4% in September 2026 from 9.8% in August, led by manufacturing products, and mining & quarrying, they said.

As per the article headline, CPI inflation edged up over the months and showed signs of greater generalisation across commodities, calling for a commensurate change in the monetary policy stance.

“The external headwinds are also being dealt with a slew of regulatory measures by the Reserve Bank to curb speculative activity in foreign exchange market,” they stated.

“Strong inflows under FCNR(B) swap window augmented reserves.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) and remittance flows strengthened in August.

With strong exports growth, the trade deficit narrowed in September,” they added.

The headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rose to a 23-month high of 5.5% (YoY) in September from 4.8% in August, driven by a broad-based increase in food, fuel and core (CPI excluding food and fuel) components.

Eleven out of twelve divisions witnessed a sequential increase in inflation, they said.

Despite the West Asia conflict having entered its eighth month, keeping energy prices elevated and supply chains constrained, causing uncertainties in trade policies and volatility in financial markets, the Indian economy has withstood the shocks well, the officials wrote.

“The IMF raised India’s growth projection for 2026-27 by 60 basis points [bps] to 7%, from its July estimate, citing stronger-than-expected momentum, driven by resilient domestic demand and robust services activity.

The high-frequency indicators maintained their upward trajectory,” they stated.

Emphasising that the Indian economy has been anchored by solid macroeconomic fundamentals and policy interventions to cushion downside risks, they said that despite being a net energy importer, its GDP growth has been supported by sustained domestic demand and services.

economy, business and finance / food / Reserve Bank of India