India’s wholesale inflation in July eased sequentially to 13.93 per cent as vegetables, milk and fuel became cheaper, but remained in double digits for the 16th month.
Wholesale Price Index-based (WPI) inflation was 15.18 per cent last month and at a record high of 16.63 per cent in May. It was 11.57 per cent in July 2021.
WPI inflation rate for May 2022 was revised to a record high of 16.63 per cent year-on-year, from 15.88 per cent estimated earlier. “Inflation in July, 2022 is primarily contributed by rise in prices of mineral oils, food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas, basic metals, electricity, chemicals & chemical products, food products etc. as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year,” said a government statement.
Primary articles, which constitute 22.6 per cent of the WPI index, grew 15.04 per cent in July 2022 compared to 6.34 per cent in July 2021. WPI inflation in primary articles that mainly comprises food and non-food articles, sequentially eased from 19.22 per cent in June 2022 to 15.04 per cent in July 2022.
Vegetable prices increased 18.25 per cent in July 2022 as compared to a contraction of 8.30 per cent seen in July 2021. However, the inflation was 56.75 per cent in June 2022.
Milk price increased from 2.5 per cent in July 2021 to 5.45 per cent in July 2022. On a monthly basis, milk price dropped from 6.35 recorded in June 2022.
Fuel inflation, which has 13.15 per cent weightage in WPI, increased from 27.01 per cent in July 2021 to 43.75 per cent in July 2022 as prices of high speed diesel (HSD) rose. Fuel prices increased month-on-month from 40.38 per cent witnessed in June 2022.
Manufactured products, which have 64.23 per cent weightage in the WPI inflation, registered a decline from 11.46 per cent in July 2021 to 8.16 per cent in July 2022. Prices of manufactured products, comprising manufactured food products, basic metals and other items, dropped from 9.19 per cent in June 2022.
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