India’s consumer inflation rises to 3.21% in February as oil risks loom

India’s consumer inflation rose for the fourth straight month to 3.21% in February, up from 2.75% in the previous month.

The headline inflation number was in line with economists’ expectations for a 3.1% rise in the consumer price index, according to a Reuters poll.

Food inflation rose 3.47% year-on-year in February, also up from a 2.13% rise in January, India’s Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said in a release Thursday.

This is the second consumer price index reading under a revised data series, with the base year changed to 2024 from 2012 to reflect changes in consumption patterns.

The base year was changed because “significant structural changes have occurred in consumption behaviour, income levels, urbanisation, expansion of the services sector, and digitalization,” the government said in a statement in February.