Proactive inflation management has helped keep the country's inflation within the manageable range, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while presenting the interim Budget on Thursday. She also said that the inflation has moderated. The Reserve Bank of India has been mandated by the government to ensure retail inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side. Retail inflation rose at the fastest pace in four months in December 2023 at 5.69 per cent on account of an increase in prices of vegetables, pulses, and spices. The annual inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was at 5.55 per cent in November and 5.72 per cent in the year-ago month. As per the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the rate of price rise in the food basket, which constitutes nearly half of the CPI, increased to 9.53 per cent in December 2023 against 8.7 per cent in the preceding month and 4.19 per cent in December 2022. In August 2023, inflation ha