India's UPI payments hit a record 25,466.7 million in October; worker inflation rises

UPI payments rose in both number and value in October

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is India's real-time system for mobile payments between bank accounts. It shows how fast digital payments are replacing other ways to pay.

• Payments: 25,466.7 million in October. That is up 5.8% from September and 23.0% from a year earlier.
• Value: ₹31.53 lakh crore (Indian rupees), a record. That is up 7.3% from September and 15.6% from a year earlier.

Festive-season shopping at merchants drove much of the gain

Payments from people to merchants rose 9.4% from September to ₹9.71 lakh crore. This faster rise points to spending in shops during the festive season.

Inflation for industrial workers rose again in September

The consumer price index for industrial workers (CPI-IW) tracks the prices that industrial workers' households pay for goods and services.

• The All-India index was 155.5 in September, up from 154.4 in August. That is a rise of 0.7% in one month.
• Annual inflation on this measure was about 5.6%. It was about 5.0% in August and 4.6% in July.

The rise adds to the case for the Reserve Bank of India to keep tightening, which means keeping borrowing costs high or raising them.

The rupee has stayed in a narrow range against the dollar

The Reserve Bank of India's reference rate was ₹94.86 per US dollar on 3 November. That is firmer than ₹95.37 on 29 October. For three weeks the rate has stayed between ₹94.7 and ₹95.4. The rupee's rise after the central bank's support steps has stalled. The reference rate for the euro was ₹106.14.