Retail inflation eased to an eight-year low of 1.54% in September, owing to a favourable base and an annual decline in prices of vegetables, pulses, cereals and fuels, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said on Monday. The inflation rate falling even below the lower end of the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI )’s tolerance band of 2% justified its October 1 decision after the latest monetary policy review to keep the repo rate unchanged at 5.5%.

September inflation is the lowest since June 2017, when it stood at 1.46%; that is, the latest print is a 99-month low. In August 2025, the inflation stood at 2.07%.

With the latest figure inflation for Q2FY26 averaged 1.7%, as against the RBI’s projection of 1.8%. The RBI lowered its inflation projection for 2025-26 to 2.6% from 3.1% estimated in

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