RBI has said further softening of vegetable prices is unlikely and the impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon on the monsoon could have an adverse bearing on inflation. The Reserve Bank of India said in its first bi-monthly monetary policy statement for 2014-15 that excluding food and fuel retail inflation remained sticky at around 8 per cent. This suggests that some demand pressures are still at play. El Nino refers to the warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. This condition occurs every four to 12 years and hadlast hit India's monsoon in 2009, leading to the worst drought in almost four decades.