WPI inflation falls to 13-month low of 0.85 per cent

Blitz Bureau

NEW DELHI: India’s annual rate of inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) slowed to a 13-month low of 0.85 per cent in April, down from 2.05 per cent in March and 2.38 per cent in February, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on May 14. The month-over-month change in WPI for April was in the negative zone at (-) 0.19 per cent as compared to the previous month of March, reflecting the declining trend in inflation.

There was a decline in prices of food as well as a double digit decline in fuel prices, compared to the previous month, which resulted in the overall month-on-month inflation rate turning negative.

Meanwhile, the country’s retail inflation has also come down from 3.16 per cent in April from 3.34 per cent in March to its lowest level since July, 2019 as food prices eased further bringing respite to household budgets, according to figures released by the Ministry of Statistics.

Food inflation, which accounts for nearly half of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket, slowed to 1.78 per cent in April, compared to 2.69 per cent in March. This is for the third month in a row that inflation has stayed below the RBI’s 4 per cent medium-term target and will enable the central bank to continue with its soft money policy to spur economic growth.

Retail inflation in the country has been on a declining trend in recent months. The Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee has reduced its inflation forecast for 2025-26 to 4 per cent from 4.2 per cent earlier “as the outlook for food inflation has turned decisively positive,” RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said during the monetary policy review meeting recently.

The uncertainties regarding Rabi crops have abated considerably and the second advance estimates point to a record wheat production and higher production of key pulses over that last year. Along with robust Kharif arrivals, this is expected to set the stage for a durable softening of food inflation.

The sharp decline in inflation expectations in the latest RBI survey for three months and one year ahead will also help anchor inflation expectations, going ahead.

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