Wholesale inflation falls to 2.6% in Sept as food items soften

Wholesale inflation fell to 2.60 percent in September as prices of food articles, led by vegetables, softened.

Inflation, based on the wholesale price index (WPI), had soared to a four-month high of 3.24 percent in August 2017. It was 1.36 percent in September 2016.

The government data released today showed that inflation in food articles tapered to 2.04 percent in September, as against 5.75 percent in August on an yearly basis.

Inflation in vegetable prices cooled to 15.48 per cent in September, as against a high of 44.91 percent in the previous month. Onion prices, however, continued to rule high with 79.78 percent increase in September. In egg, meat and fish segment the rate of price rise was 5.47 percent.

Inflation in manufactured products witnessed a slight increase at 2.72 percent, against 2.45 percent in August.

In fuel and power segment, inflation cooled to 9.01 percent, against 9.99 percent in August. Fuel inflation has remained high in the past two months as petrol and diesel prices continued to rule high relentlessly on global crude oil rates, while power tariffs shot through the roof on lower domestic production. Pulses continued to witness deflation at 24.26 percent, likewise in potato at 46.52 percent and wheat at 1.71 percent.

The final print of July WPI inflation remained unchanged from provisional estimate of 1.88 percent. Data released earlier this week showed retail inflation at 3.28 percent in September, unchanged from August, even as vegetable and cereal prices softened.

Besides industrial production grew at a nine-month high of 4.3 percent in August, mainly on account of robust performance of mining and power sectors coupled with higher capital goods output. Earlier this month, the Reserve Bank kept benchmark interest rate unchanged on fears of rising inflation while lowering growth forecast to 6.7 percent for the current fiscal. It also raised its inflation forecast to a range of 4.2 to 4.6 percent during remainder of current fiscal as against 4 to 4.5 percent previously.