UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Food prices take retail inflation to 3.9% in May

Q1. In the revised Consumer Price Index series (Base 2024=100) used to compute India's retail inflation, which one of the following sub-groups carries the single largest weight in the combined basket?

  • A. Food and beverages
  • B. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels
  • C. Transport and communication
  • D. Miscellaneous (health, education, personal care)

Q2. Under which section of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 is the Monetary Policy Committee, which uses CPI-based retail inflation data to fix the policy repo rate, constituted?

  • A. Section 45IA
  • B. Section 45ZB
  • C. Section 45ZL
  • D. Section 42(1)

Q3. With reference to the revised Consumer Price Index series (Base 2024=100), consider the following statements: 1. Its item basket and weights are drawn from the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023-24. 2. It adopts the COICOP-2018 classification framework. 3. Its base year was revised from 2012 to 2024. 4. It is compiled by the Office of the Economic Adviser. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. Its item basket and weights are drawn from the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2023-24.
  2. It adopts the COICOP-2018 classification framework.
  3. Its base year was revised from 2012 to 2024.
  4. It is compiled by the Office of the Economic Adviser.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3 only
  • B. 1 and 4 only
  • C. 2, 3 and 4 only
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q4. Consider the following pairs of a price/monetary measure and the body responsible for it: 1. Wholesale Price Index — Office of the Economic Adviser, Ministry of Commerce and Industry 2. Consumer Price Index (Combined) — National Statistical Office 3. Policy repo rate — Monetary Policy Committee 4. Consumer Food Price Index — Reserve Bank of India Which of the above pairs is/are NOT correctly matched?

  1. Wholesale Price Index — Office of the Economic Adviser, Ministry of Commerce and Industry
  2. Consumer Price Index (Combined) — National Statistical Office
  3. Policy repo rate — Monetary Policy Committee
  4. Consumer Food Price Index — Reserve Bank of India
  • A. 1 and 2
  • B. 4 only
  • C. 3 and 4
  • D. 2 only

Q5. The COICOP-2018 classification adopted by the new Consumer Price Index series (Base 2024=100) classifies household consumption expenditure at the first level into how many divisions?

  • A. 6
  • B. 12
  • C. 43
  • D. 162

Q6. The following statements compare the new CPI series (Base 2024=100) with the earlier series (Base 2012=100): 1. The weight of 'Food and beverages' fell from about 45.86% to about 36.75%. 2. The number of first-level classification heads rose from 6 broad groups to 12 divisions. 3. The weight of 'Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels' was reduced in the new series. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The weight of 'Food and beverages' fell from about 45.86% to about 36.75%.
  2. The number of first-level classification heads rose from 6 broad groups to 12 divisions.
  3. The weight of 'Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels' was reduced in the new series.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q7. The monthly retail inflation figure (3.9% for May 2026) is derived from the Consumer Price Index compiled and released by which one of the following bodies?

  • A. National Statistical Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
  • B. Office of the Economic Adviser, Ministry of Commerce and Industry
  • C. Monetary Policy Department, Reserve Bank of India
  • D. Central Statistics wing, NITI Aayog

Q8. In the context of the monthly retail inflation release, the term 'Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI)' is best described as which one of the following?

  • A. A measure of the change in retail prices of the food component of the CPI basket, released by the NSO along with the CPI
  • B. An index of wholesale/mandi prices of food articles compiled by the Office of the Economic Adviser
  • C. An index of the food subsidy burden borne by the Central Government under the National Food Security Act
  • D. An index of farm-gate procurement prices used to fix minimum support prices