Wholesale inflation rises to 15-month high of 2.6% in May

New Delhi, June 14

The wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation rate rose to a 15-month high of 2.61 per cent in May, mainly due to the increase in prices of food items which went up by 7.4 per cent during the same month.

Heatwave conditions also pushed up prices of food items, especially vegetables. “The positive rate of inflation in May is primarily due to increase in prices of food articles, manufacture of food products, crude petroleum and natural gas, mineral oils, other manufacturing,” acknowledged the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in a statement on Friday.

The wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation has been rising for three months in a row. It was 1.26 per cent in the previous month and (-) 3.61 per cent in May 2023.

Despite the high food inflation, analysts saw better days ahead. “The outlook for food inflation has brightened due to anticipations of a normal monsoon, which is expected to bolster agricultural production. However, monitoring the monsoon’s temporal and spatial distribution is critical. We expect the WPI inflation to average around 3 per cent in FY25,” said Sarbartho Mukherjee of CareEdge Ratings.

Inflation in vegetables was 32.42 per cent in May, up from 23.60 per cent in the previous month. Onion inflation was at 58.05 per cent, while that of potato was 64.05 per cent. Pulses inflation rose 21.95 per cent in May. Crude petroleum and natural gas also turned costlier by 1.35 per cent and prices of manufactured products rose by 0.78 per cent. (With PTI inputs)