New Delhi: India's retail inflation eased to 5.91% last month from 6.58% in February on a sharp fall in food inflation even as the Covid-19 outbreak is expected to weigh on inflation numbers for April as factories slow production and data collection gets hit.

Food inflation at 8.76% in March was lower from 10.81% in February, data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed. While some data was missing due to the nationwide lockdown that started on March 25, the government said it was within 'acceptable limits'.

This is the first time since November last year that retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) has fallen below the Reserve Bank of India Monetary Policy Committee's targeted upper band of 6%.

The inflation rate was 2.86% in March 2019. Some independent economists ET spoke with expect the central bank to announce another out-of-cycle rate cut of at least 50 basis points due to an expected plunge in economic activity.