WPI inflation eases to 0.16% in October, lowest in 40 months

The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI, stood at 0.16 per cent (provisional) for the month of October 2019.

New Delhi:Wholesale inflation eased to 40 months low of 0.16 per cent in October on account of a decline in prices of manufactured goods though food products remained dearer, government data showed on Thursday.

Source: Ministry of Commerce and Industry

The wholesale price index-based inflation was 0.33 per cent in September this year and 5.54 per cent in October 2018.

The previous low was recorded in June 2016 when wholesale inflation was in negative at 0.1 per cent.

The rate of price rise for food articles was at 9.80 per cent during the month, while for non-food articles it stood at 2.35 per cent, showed the data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The items which saw highest rate of inflation includes Onion (119.84%), followed by vegetables (38.91%) and pulses (16.57%). Whereas some of the items which faced negative trend were LPG (-30.97%), Crude Petroleum (-23.63), and petrol (-10.54).

The wholesale inflation in potato remained in the negative zone at 19.60 per cent (from -22.50 per cent in September).

For manufactured products, the wholesale inflation was at (-)0.84 per cent in October 2019.

"The sequential dip in the WPI inflation in October 2019 was led by core items, fuel and power, minerals, and crude petroleum and natural gas, whereas inflation for primary food and non-food articles, and manufactured food products recorded an uptick," said Aditi Nayar, economist at ICRA.

However, the retail inflation for the month hit a 16-month high of 4.62 per cent due to soaring prices of food articles, including fruits and vegetables.