India’s Consumer Prices Increase at Fastest Pace in Three Months

Indian consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in three months in November as costs of sugar and vegetables increased.

The consumer-price index climbed 9.9 percent from a year earlier, compared with a 9.75 percent advance reported earlier for October, the Statistics Office said in a statement in New Delhi today.

India’s consumer inflation is the fastest among 17 economies in the Asia-Pacific region tracked by Bloomberg. Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao held interest rates in October, and said last week that while price gains remain high, he expects they will ease in the January-March quarter.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government last week won parliamentary endorsement for its decision to allow foreign direct investment in supermarkets, a move it says can help lower food costs. The central bank meets next week to determine policy.

Vegetable prices climbed 14.74 percent last month from a year earlier, today’s statement showed, while sugar rose 17 percent and pulses gained 14.19 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tushar Dhara in New Delhi at tdhara1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephanie Phang at sphang@bloomberg.net