Wholesale inflation at record high of 15.08%

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 17

Wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation rose to a record high of 15.08 per cent in April, up from 14.55 per cent in March, due to rising prices of crude, food products and chemicals.

Pricey essentials lead to spike

• 8.35%inflation in food articles
• 10.85% manufactured products
• 38.66% fuel and power basket
• 69.07% crude and natural gas
• 10.74% WPI inflation a year ago
• 16.06% previous high in August 1991

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The wholesale inflation has been in double digits for 13 straight months since April last year. Besides, the inflation rate for April is the highest in the current series introduced in 2013. Considering the old series as well, the last time WPI inflation higher than this was 16.06 per cent in August 1991.

Fuelled by similar factors, retail inflation too was at a record 7.79 per cent in April from 6.95 per cent in March. It has remained above the RBI’s tolerance band of 6 per cent for four consecutive months.

In the WPI basket, the index for fuel and power group was 2.8 per cent higher in April as compared to March, that for manufactured products (accounting for 64.23 per cent of the WPI basket) rose 1.7 per cent, but worryingly, the food index rose the fastest, 3.4 per cent month-on-month. “The high rate of inflation in April was primarily due to rise in prices of mineral oils, basic metals, crude and natural gas, food articles, non-food articles, chemicals and chemical products,” said a Commerce Ministry statement.

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