The Ministry of Commerce & Industry announced provisional data indicating that the annual rate of India’s wholesale pricing index (WPI)-based inflation increased to 1.26 percent in April from 0.53 percent in March. A 13-month high was reached by the WPI in April, surpassing the Reuters forecast of 1% WPI inflation as predicted.
According to the ministry, the main causes of the positive rate of inflation in April 2024 will be the rising costs of food items, power, natural gas and crude oil, food product manufacturing, and other manufacturing.
In April, there was a 0.79 percent month-over-month change in the WPI index from March.
Food item inflation, according to the statement, was 7.74 percent in April compared to 6.88 percent in March. The rate of inflation for the main articles increased to 5.01 percent from 4.51% in March. In April, gasoline and power inflation was 1.38 percent, up from -0.77 percent in March. In addition, the inflation rate for manufactured goods in April was -0.42%.
The wholesale inflation rate for non-food items was recorded at -4.41 percent. Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas reported 4.97 percent wholesale inflation in April compared to 4.87 percent in March. The percentage of crude petroleum was 6.52%.
Earlier, an increase in fuel and light deflation as well as a decrease in core inflation caused India’s retail inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), to drop to an 11-month low of 4.83 percent year over year in April from 4.85 percent in March.
