Retail inflation is likely to remain elevated with the Reserve Bank of India on Friday pegging it at 6.8 per cent in the third quarter (October to December) of current fiscal year (2020-21). RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the outlook for inflation has turned adverse relative to expectations in the last two months.

"The substantial wedge between wholesale and retail inflation points to the supply-side bottlenecks and large margins being charged to the consumer," he said while unveiling its bi-monthly monetary policy review. While cereal prices may continue to soften with the bumper kharif harvest arrivals and vegetable prices may ease with the winter crop, other food prices are likely to persist at elevated levels, he added.