WPI inflation at 8-yr low

New Delhi The wholesale price-based inflation rate declined to (-) 4.12 per cent in June on easing prices of food, fuel and manufactured items. The wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation in May was (-) 3.48 per cent. In June last year, it was 16.23 per cent. Inflation in food articles declined to (-) 1.24 per cent in June against (-) 1.59 per cent in May, the Commerce and Industry Ministry said in a release on Friday. At -4.12 per cent, the WPI inflation has hit its lowest level since October 2015, when it had fallen to -4.76 per cent.

Fuel and power basket inflation eased to (-) 12.63 per cent in June from (-) 9.17 per cent in May. In manufactured products, the inflation rate was (-) 2.71 per cent in the month under review against (-) 2.97 per cent in May. The decline in the rate of inflation in June 2023 is primarily due to a fall in prices of mineral oils, food products, basic metals, crude petroleum & natural gas and textiles, the release said.

With a weightage of 0.57 per cent in the CPI basket, pricing pressures in tomato is unlikely to substantially impact the headline inflation unless prices of other two main crops (potato and onion) move in tandem, JM Financial Institutional Securities said in a research.