Providing breathing room for the nation's central bank, India's consumer price inflation rate eased in February, in part due to stabilizing food prices.

India's consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.61% on year in February, cooling from the 4.26% rate logged in January, and lower than the recent apex of 6.21% recorded in October of last year, reported the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Wednesday.

India's consumers have faced higher food bills in recent months, with the cost of eating rising 10.87% on year in October. However, costs of food have stabilized recently, and food bills rose only 3.75% on year in February.

Helping to hold down India's CPI in February, fuel and light bills declined 1.33% on year in the month, added the NSO.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has a 4% target rate of annual inflation, within a band of plus or minus 2%.

At its early February policy meeting, the RBI reduced its key policy rate for the first time in five years, cutting the bank's repo rate to 6.25% from 6.50%.

At the February meeting, the central bank forecast India's economy would expand by 6.7% on year in fiscal 2025-6, starting April 1.

The RBI also estimated India's inflation rate for the fiscal year would average 4.2% on year, well within the central bank's target band.

In 2020 and 2021, the RBI kept its key, repo rate at a recent low of 4%, to boost an economy laboring under the COVID-19 pandemic.

But facing inflation, by February of 2023, the central bank had raised the key rate to 6.5%, where it stayed until February.

The next RBI policy session is scheduled to start on April 7.