Reserve Bank of India releases April 2026 Bulletin featuring new Consumer Price Index base year
Why it matters
The April 2026 issue of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Bulletin, released on April 23, 2026, serves as a critical document for understanding the current macroeconomic environment. A major update in this issue is the revision of Table 19, which aligns Consumer Price Index (CPI) reporting with the new 2024=100 base year. This shift is intended to better reflect contemporary consumption patterns and improve the accuracy of inflation measurement. The bulletin also includes the Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement from April 8, 2026, providing a comprehensive look at the central bank's current stance.
The bulletin's 'State of the Economy' article notes that while global supply chains faced pressure due to West Asian conflicts in March, there was relative easing in early April. Domestically, economic activity remains resilient across most sectors. The narrowing of the trade deficit to a nine-month low is attributed to a slowdown in imports and a steady expansion in exports. For financial sector candidates, the inclusion of specific 'core inflation' data (CPI excluding food and fuel) in official statistics is a vital technical update for tracking long-term price stability.
- CPI Base Year: Revised to 2024=100
- Trade Deficit: Reached a nine-month low
- Core Inflation: Now explicitly includes data excluding food and fuel
- Global Impact: West Asian conflict intensified supply chain pressures in March
Glossary
Term: Core Inflation: A measure of inflation that excludes volatile items like food and energy to show the underlying trend in prices.
Term: CPI: Consumer Price Index, a measure that examines the weighted average of prices of a basket of consumer goods and services.