New Delhi, Sep 20 || Household consumption is poised to grow faster in the second quarter of the current fiscal (FY25) as headline inflation eases, with a revival of rural demand already taking hold, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday.
Private consumption and gross fixed investment were robust in India and net exports remained sequentially positive in their support to gross domestic product (GDP) growth in Q1 of FY25, the central bank said in its monthly bulletin.
"The underperformance of agriculture was compensated for by a buoyant manufacturing sector and resilient services," said the RBI.
Consumer price index (CPI) inflation came in below the RBI’s target for the second consecutive month in August, "although in light of the recent experience, food price volatility remains a contingent risk", it added.
The year-on-year inflation rate (3.65 per cent), based on the All India Consumer Price Index (CPI), for the month of August was the second lowest in the last five years, below the RBI’s 4 per cent inflation target.
India’s foreign exchange reserves rose to an all-time high of $689.2 billion (as of September 6), equivalent to more than 12 months of imports for 2023-24 and more than 103 per cent of total external debt outstanding in end-March 2024.
"India accumulated $66.8 billion in 2024 so far (as on September 6), the second highest among major foreign exchange reserves holding countries," said the RBI.