WPI inflation rose to 3.36 per cent in June primarily due to increase in prices of food articles, manufacture of food products, crude petroleum & natural gas, mineral oils, other manufacturing etc.
India’s wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation for the month of June accelerated to a 16-month high of 3.36 per cent primarily due to increase in prices of food articles, manufacture of food products, crude petroleum & natural gas, mineral oils, other manufacturing etc, said the provisional data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry. In May, WPI inflation was at 2.61 percent, driven by costlier food articles.
“Positive rate of inflation in June, 2024 is primarily due to increase in prices of food articles, manufacture of food products, crude petroleum & natural gas, mineral oils, other manufacturing etc,” Ministry of Commerce & Industry said in a statement on Monday.
The month over month change in WPI for the month of June 2024 stood at 0.39 per cent as compared to May 2024. The rate of inflation based on WPI Food Index increased from 7.40 per cent in May 2024 to 8.68 per cent in June 2024, the data showed.
Per the release, inflation for food articles stood at 10.87 per cent in June as compared to 9.82 in May. The inflation rate for the primary articles came in at 8.80 per cent from 7.20 per cent in May. The fuel and power inflation was at 1.03 per cent in June as against 1.35 per cent in May. And manufactured products inflation stood at 1.43 per cent in June.
Now in food articles, the much talked about category, that is, vegetables inflation was recorded at 38.76 per cent in June. Pulses inflation during the month of June was at 21.64 per cent as against 21.95 per cent in May, while the inflation for wheat came in at 6.25 per cent from 6.00 per cent in May. Cereals inflation was at 9.27 per cent. Eggs, Meat & Fish inflation came in at -3.06 per cent in June from 0.68 per cent in May. Potato and onion posted inflation at 66.37 per cent and 93.35 per cent respectively.
The non-food articles reported WPI inflation at -1.95 per cent. Minerals inflation was at 9.59 per cent and Crude Petroleum & Natural gas posted wholesale inflation at 12.55 per cent in June, and crude petroleum was at 14.04 per cent.
Reacting on the same, Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist, Head of Research and Outreach, ICRA Ltd, said, “Looking ahead, the headline WPI inflation is expected to dip to ~2.0 per cent in July 2024, driven by a favourable base, as well as some cooling in global commodity prices. The up move in the WPI inflation in June 2024 was broad-based, driven by all the major segments except fuel and power.”
“The average price of the Indian basket of crude oil has been quite volatile in July 2024 so far, on the back of supply-demand mismatches, witnessing an MoM rise ($86.6/bbl up to July 11). Higher crude oil prices might exert an upward pressure to the headline WPI inflation in the ongoing month,” Aditi Nayar added.
Source:financialexpress.com