As Inflation gets 'ugly' in April, RBI may be pushed to hike rates

India’s inflation accelerated more than estimated in April, providing ammunition to hawks in the central bank to tighten monetary policy and fueling a selloff in bonds.

Consumer prices rose 4.6 percent in April from a year earlier, the statistics ministry said in a statement in New Delhi on Monday, higher than the 4.4 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. It was the first pick-up in inflation in four months.

The data -- the final price print before the Reserve Bank of India’s next rate decision on June 6 -- highlights the risks from surging oil prices in Asia’s third-largest economy. The central bank expects oil prices averaging around $78 a barrel to stoke inflation by 30 basis points.