Retail inflation hit a 15-month high of 4.88 per cent in November due to costlier fuel, vegetables and eggs, as per data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) yesterday. The inflation, based on Consumer Price Index (CPI), was at 3.58 per cent in October. It was 3.63 per cent in November 2016. The previous high was recorded at 5.05 per cent in August last year.

The November inflation number is higher than the Reserve Bank's 4 per cent medium-term target, reducing the room for the central bank to cut rates in near future. Economists polled by Reuters had predicted consumer inflation to rise to 4.2 per cent in November, following unseasonably heavy rains that sent vegetable prices soaring. Vegetable prices showed a spike, with prices rising 22.48 per cent year-on-year in November. Higher fuel prices (up nearly 8 per cent) also pulled inflation higher, reported NDTV.