India’s inflation rate accelerated to a four-month high due to rising food prices, aligning with the central bank’s (RBI) cautious approach to maintaining higher interest rates. The consumer price index rose 5.69% YoY in December, slightly below the expected 5.88%. The RBI has held its benchmark interest rate for five consecutive policy meetings, emphasizing a hawkish stance to prevent food price increases from affecting other economic sectors. Additionally, factory output growth in India slowed to a low of 2.4% in November, marking the weakest performance in eight months.