12 June 2020
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The Economy Observer
Blanket decline in industrial production in Apr’20; food inflation eases in May’20
Monetary policy focused on growth rather than inflation outlook
Similar to last month, CSO’s price collection exercise for most items in the CPI basket could not be completed. Thus,
based limited data (63% of CPI), headline inflation stood at 7.2% YoY in May’20, lower than 8.4% a month ago, but still
higher than 6.2% in Feb’20. The actual headline inflation (for 100% basket), however would be lower because a large
part of core inflation is not reported, which is certain to have lower inflation.
As supply chain disruptions eased a tad due to marginal opening up of economic activity in May’20, retail food inflation
(excluding ‘prepared meals, snacks, sweets, etc.’) was seen moderating to 9.3% YoY v/s 12.1% last month.
Every item within the food basket showcased moderate inflation, except for ‘oil and fats’. Interestingly, ‘vegetables’
registered single-digit inflation of 5.3% YoY in May’20 after 8 months of high double-digit inflation.
Separately, worse than the market consensus of 45.0% decline but better than our forecast of 60.8% contraction, IIP
plunged 55.5% YoY in Apr’20. A decline in Apr’20 industrial activity was almost a given following the nationwide
lockdown initiated in Mar’20, which led to near blanking out of economic activity.
Interestingly, manufacturing activity plummeted 64.3% YoY in Apr’20, in line with our expectations; however, decline in
mining activity was lower than expected at 27.4% YoY during the month. According to used-based categories, capital
and consumer durable goods production and infrastructure activity declined in the range of 85-95%. Consumer non-
durables production, however, was down only 36.1% YoY during the month.
Overall, we expect headline inflation to keep easing in the coming months. Moreover, if vegetable inflation continues
to moderate as sharply, headline inflation may even veer toward 2.5% by Dec’20. At this point in time, however, the RBI
seems to be more focused on growth rather than the inflation outlook. As for IIP, we continue to expect contraction for
another 5-6 months, with May’20 contracting another ~30-40%.
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I. May
’20 food inflation moderates to 9.3% YoY from 12.1% a month ago
Price collection exercise for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) remained hampered
in May’20. As a result, price points for major groups including ‘clothing and
footwear’, ‘housing’ for rural areas and ‘miscellaneous’ items were unavailable
in May’20.
As supply chain disruptions eased a tad in May’20 due to marginal opening up of
economic activity during the month, retail food inflation (excluding ‘prepared
meals, snacks, sweets etc.’) was seen moderating to 9.3% YoY v/s 12.1% last
month (Exhibit
1).
Every item within the food basket posted moderate inflation, except ‘oil and
fats’. While inflation in ‘cereals and products’ moderated 7.5% YoY in May’20
v/s 7.8% a month ago, that in ‘milk and milk products’ slowed down to 8.9% YoY
v/s 9.4% in Apr’20. Interestingly, ‘vegetables’ registered single-digit inflation of
5.3% YoY in May’20 after 8 months of high double-digit inflation (Exhibit
2).
Based on limited data made available by the CSO (63% of CPI), headline inflation
stood at 7.2% YoY in May’20, lower than 8.4% a month ago, but still higher than
6.2% in Feb’20.
The actual headline inflation (for 100% basket), however would be lower
because a large part of core inflation is not reported, which is certain to have
lower inflation.
Nikhil Gupta – Research Analyst
(Nikhil.Gupta@MotilalOswal.com); +91 22 6129 1555
Yaswi Agarwal
– Research Analyst
(Yaswi.Agarwal@motilaloswal.com); +91 22 7193 4196
Investors are advised to refer through important disclosures made at the last page of the Research Report.
Motilal Oswal research is available on
www.motilaloswal.com/Institutional-Equities,
Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, Factset and S&P Capital.