Wholesale inflation in India decelerated by 0.52 per cent on an annual basis in August after declining 1.36 per cent in July, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) data showed on Thursday. With this, the wholesale inflation rate has remained in the negative territory for five straight months.
Economists polled by Reuters had estimated the wholesale price index for August would fall 0.6% The wholesale inflation rate for June was (-) 4.12 per cent, down from (-) 3.48 per cent in May and (-) 0.79 per cent in April.
“The negative rate of inflation in August 2023 is primarily due to fall in prices of mineral oils, basic metals, chemical & chemical products, textiles and food products as compared to the corresponding month of previous year,” the commerce and industry ministry said on Thursday.
Inflation in food articles remained in double digit at 10.60 per cent in August, lower than 14.25 per cent in July.
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Fuel and power basket inflation was at (-)6.03 per cent in August, against (-) 12.79 per cent in July. In manufactured products, inflation rate was (-)2.37 per cent, as against (-)2.51 per cent in July.
Data released Tuesday shows that retail inflation in India declined to 6.83 per cent in August after touching a 15-month high of 7.44 per cent in July, mainly due to softening prices of vegetables, but still remains above the Reserve Bank of India’s comfort zone, which has the mandate to ensure inflation remains at 4 per cent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.
The RBI has projected the CPI inflation at 5.4 per cent for 2023-24, with an estimate of 6.2 per cent for the second quarter, 5.7 per cent for the third quarter and 5.2 per cent in the fourth quarter, with risks evenly balanced.
The government publishes index figures for wholesale prices on a monthly basis on the 14th of each month (or the following working day). Data from institutional sources and particular manufacturing facilities around the nation are used to construct the index numbers.
