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Informist, Wednesday, Apr. 8, 2026

 

MUMBAI – Indian households' perception of current inflation increased in March, with prices seen rising across all product groups, according to the Reserve Bank of India's inflation expectations survey released Wednesday. Households also expect much higher price pressures over three-month and one-year periods, the survey found.

 

Households' median perception of current inflation rose 30 basis points from January to 7.2% in March. Inflation expectations for the next three months and one year increased 60 bps and 20 bps, respectively, the RBI said. The RBI conducted the survey from Feb. 25 to Mar. 10 across 19 cities, with 6,075 responses.

 

India's CPI inflation rose 3.21% in February. Inflation is expected to rise in the coming months because of normalisation of food prices and higher energy prices caused by the war in West Asia. The RBI Wednesday projected CPI inflation for the financial year 2026-27 (Apr-Mar) at 4.6%, sharply higher than the near 2% seen in FY26.

 

"For both the short-term and one-year-ahead periods, the shares of respondents anticipating a rise in general prices and inflation increased for the second consecutive round," the RBI said.

 

In another forward-looking survey, the RBI found consumer confidence in urban areas deteriorated in March, with the Current Situation Index easing to 95.7 from 98.1 in January. Urban consumer confidence for the year ahead also fell even as it remained optimistic.

 

"Households' current perception on economic situation ebbed for the second consecutive round, registering a decrease of 5.1 points from the previous round," the central bank said. "The outlook also declined by 6.2 points, though remained in the optimistic zone." 

 

Consumer confidence in rural areas also worsened and fell into the pessimistic zone after six rounds, the RBI said. The one-year-ahead outlook also deteriorated in March but remained firmly in optimistic territory, the central bank said. "Higher proportions of respondents in the current survey round reported rising prices and inflation for both the current period and the year-ahead horizon," it added.  End

 

Reported by Shubham Rana

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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