February WPI inflation moderated to a four-month low of 0.20 per cent on increase in prices of food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas, electricity, machinery & equipment and motor vehicles, trailers & semi-trailers, etc.
India’s wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation moderated to a four-month low of 0.20 per cent in February on an annual basis, stated the provisional data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry. This is in comparison to 0.27 per cent in the month of January 2024 and 0.73 per cent before that. Positive rate of inflation in February 2024, it added, is primarily due to increase in prices of food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas, electricity, machinery & equipment and motor vehicles, trailers & semi-trailers, etc.
The sequential WPI rate for February grew 0.07 per cent against a contraction of (-)0.33 per cent in the month before. The WPI inflation was in the negative zone from April to October and had turned positive only in November at 0.26 per cent.
Inflation for food articles, the release stated, stood at 6.95 per cent in February as against 6.85 per cent in January. For the primary articles, the inflation rate came in at 4.49 per cent from 3.84 per cent in the previous month. The fuel and power inflation contracted to -1.59 per cent as against a contraction of -0.51 per cent in January. Further, manufactured products inflation stood at -1.27 per cent in February.
In food articles, inflation in vegetables was 19.78 per cent, up from 19.71 per cent in January. Wheat inflation during the month was at 2.34 per cent, while pulses was at 18.48 per cent. Milk inflation stood at 5.46 per cent and eggs, meat & fish posted inflation at -0.47 per cent.
Among non-food articles, wholesale inflation in crude petroleum and natural gas stood at 8.24 per cent and crude petroleum was at 16.65 per cent.
Earlier this week, India’s retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 5.09 per cent for the month of February, roughly the same level as in January, but the easing of price pressures in manufactured goods has been steeper, with “core” inflation falling to 3.3 per cent, the lowest rate in the current CPI series with base year 2012.
Source:financialexpress.com