India CPI surges, fuels rate-increase expectation

Rising costs: A vegetable vendor speaks on his mobile phone at a market in Kolkata. Consumer prices increased 7.79% in April, according to the Central Statistics Office. — Reuters

MUMBAI: India’s headline inflation accelerated for a seventh month to the fastest since May 2014 on higher fuel and food costs, sending bond yields higher and spurring expectations the central bank will raise rates further to tame prices.

Consumer prices increased 7.79% in April, the Central Statistics Office said in a statement. That compares with a 7.42% gain predicted in a Bloomberg survey of economists and 6.95% the previous month.