Wholesale Inflation in August Declines
Deccan ChronicleNew Delhi: With the reduction in the prices of manufactured products as well as some food items, India’s wholesale price index or WPI-based inflation for August softened to a 4-month low of 1.31 per cent on an annual basis as compared to 2.04 per cent in July, while it was 0.46 per cent in August last year. “Inflation in manufactured products was 1.22 per cent in August, while the fuel and power category witnessed deflation of 0.67 per cent in August against inflation of 1.72 per cent in July,” the statement added. “The WPI inflation eased to a four-month low of 1.3% in August 2024, with the fuel and power, core, and crude petroleum and natural gas sub-groups together pulling down the headline WPI print by as much as 70 bps in the month vis-à-vis July 2024,” said Rahul Agrawal, senior economist at ICRA Ltd. However, ICRA said that the core WPI inflation dipped to 0.7 per cent in August 2024 from 1.2 per cent in July 2024, amidst a continued softening in global commodity prices.