(Bloomberg) -- Indian households expect inflation to fluctuate between now and the next 12 months, according to surveys by the Reserve Bank of India.
Households’ perception of current inflation rose by 30 basis points, but they expect it to moderate marginally by 10 bps in three months. One year ahead, they see inflation climbing again by 10 bps, the central bank said in one its surveys released on its website Friday.
In such surveys, the direction, rather than the absolute level, is important. They were conducted during November 2-11 in 19 major cities taking 6,091 responses, of which more than half were from females.
“Compared to September 2024 round of the survey, somewhat larger share of respondents expects the year ahead price and inflation to increase, mainly due to higher pressures from food items and housing related expenses,” the RBI said.
The central bank kept its policy rate unchanged Friday citing inflationary pressures. It raised its inflation forecast to 4.8% from 4.5% earlier anticipating elevated price pressures during the October-December quarter.
In another set of surveys, Indian consumers said they were marginally less confident for the current period owing to weaker sentiments across a variety of parameters, except household spending.
“Even as the respondents’ sentiments towards current earning moderated marginally, they displayed high optimism on future income which was consistent with their surmise on employment conditions,” the RBI said.
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