Wholesale Inflation At 4.64% In November, Lowest Since August

Wholesale inflation cooled off to 4.64 per cent in November, provisional data from the government showed on Friday. The rate of increase in wholesale prices, determined by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) stood at 5.28 per cent in October, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in its statement. Double-digit inflation in fuel and power was offset by easing food prices in November, the data showed. The November reading marked the lowest level of wholesale inflation recorded since 4.62 per cent in August this year, and was in line with the expectation of 4.70 per cent in a poll of economists by news agency Reuters.

Inflation in manufactured products eased to 4.21 per cent in November, from 4.49 per cent in the previous month. Manufactured products, such as food, sugar, tobacco, chemical products, cement and textiles, have a weightage of 64.2 per cent on the Wholesale Price Index.

In the fuel and power category, which has a weightage of 13.2 per cent on the Wholesale Price Index, inflation slowed down to 16.28 per cent from 18.44 per cent in the previous month - on account of lowering of petrol and diesel prices.

On the other hand, food articles remained in a deflationary mode for the fifth consecutive month. Deflation - or negative inflation - stood 3.31 per cent in November, as against 1.49 per cent in October. Food articles have a weightage of 15.3 per cent on the WPI.

“WPI in the coming months could witness moderation primarily on account of decline in the global crude oil prices. The deflationary effect of food prices could continue going forward coupled with marginal moderation in case of manufacturing products on account of easing input prices,” said CARE Ratings, a credit ratings agency.

Consumer inflation, determined by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), eased to a 17-month low of 2.33 per cent in November, according to separate official data released earlier this week. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mainly takes into account retail inflation data while formulating its monetary policy.

The central bank kept key interest rates unchanged in its last policy review earlier this month.