Wholesale Inflation Cools to 0.13% in September as Food and Fuel Prices Ease

New Delhi, October 14: India’s WPI (Wholesale Price Inflation) continues to decline for the second consecutive month and eased to 0.13% in September. The WPI in August was 0.52% and the fall can be attributed to the lower price of food items, fuel, and manufactured goods, as per the official data. The WPI was 1.91% in the same month last year, thereby marking a continuous cooling in the prices of wholesale commodities.

Key Drivers of WPI Movement

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry underlined that there was an increase in manufactured food products and other manufacturing segments, including non-food articles, textiles, and transport equipment. However, there was a reduction in the overall index because the food and energy prices had gone down considerably; for example, the deflation in food items widened to 5.22% in September (compared to -3.06% in August) as the vegetable prices continued to fall. Further, fuel and power continued to remain in deflation, recording –2.58 per cent in September, compared with –3.17 per cent in August.

Broader Inflation Context

While wholesale inflation remains subdued, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has maintained a cautious stance. The central bank recently kept its benchmark policy rate unchanged at 5.5 per cent, emphasizing a balance between supporting growth and containing price pressures.

On the retail front, consumer price inflation (CPI) cooled to an eight-year low of 1.5 per cent in September, indicating easing price pressures across both wholesale and consumer levels. The latest WPI data reflects a stabilizing trend in input costs for producers, with easing food and energy prices likely to provide short-term relief to both manufacturers and consumers.

REF: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2178775

Disclaimer: At HDFC SKY, we take utmost care and due diligence in curating and presenting news and market-related content. However, inadvertent errors or omissions may occasionally occur.

If you have any concerns, questions, or wish to point out any discrepancies in our content, please feel free to write to us at content@hdfcsec.com.

Please note that the information shared is intended solely for informational purposes and does not make any investment recommendations