India’s WPI inflation eases to 5.09% in July

After accelerating to 4-year high in the previous month, India’s Wholesale price index (WPI) inflation eased in the month of July 2018, supported by fall in the prices of minerals, crude petroleum & natural gas. According to the latest data released by the government, WPI slowed down to 5.09 percent in July from 5.77 percent in June and 1.88 percent during the corresponding month of the previous year. Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 2.92% compared to a build up rate of 0.62% in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Component wise, primary articles index having weight of 22.62 percent, rose by 1.3 percent to 134.9 (provisional) from 133.2 (provisional) for the previous month. Among the primary articles, the index for ‘Food Articles’ group surged by 2.1 percent to 144.7 (provisional) from 141.7 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Non-Food Articles’ group was up by 0.8 percent to 123.5 (provisional) from 122.5 (provisional) for the previous month. On the flip side, the index for ‘Minerals’ group decreased by 7.6 percent to 129.6 (provisional) from 140.2 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas’ group declined by 0.8 percent to 94.4 (provisional) from 95.2 (provisional) for the previous month.

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15 percent, was up by 0.3 percent to 104.4 (provisional) from 104.1 (provisional) for the previous month, due to rising Mineral Oils prices.

Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23 percent moved up by 0.1 percent to 117.4 (provisional) from 117.3 (provisional) for the previous month. Among these, The index for ‘Manufacture of Food Products’ group rose by 0.4 percent to 129.0 (provisional) from 128.5 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘manufacture of Textiles’ group rose by 1.0 percent to 117.1 (provisional) from 115.9 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Manufacture of Leather and Related Products’ group rose by 0.9 percent to 123.0 (provisional) from 121.9 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Manufacture of Paper and Paper Products’ group rose by 0.9 percent to 121.8 (provisional) from 120.7 (provisional) for the previous month and The index for ‘Manufacture of Chemicals and Chemical Products’ group rose by 0.1 percent to 118.1 (provisional) from 118.0 (provisional) for the previous month.

Further, The index for ‘Manufacture of Rubber and Plastics Products’ group rose by 0.4 percent to 109.4 (provisional) from 109.0 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Manufacture of Other Non-Metallic Mineral Products’ group rose by 0.4 percent to 115.7 (provisional) from 115.2 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Manufacture of Electrical Equipment’ group rose by 0.1 percent to 111.7 (provisional) from 111.6 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Manufacture of Machinery and Equipment’ group rose by 0.2 percent to 110.5 (provisional) from 110.3 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Manufacture of Motor Vehicles, Trailers and Semi-Trailers’ group rose by 0.5 percent to 112.5 (provisional) from 111.9 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Manufacture of Other Transport Equipment’ group rose by 0.3 percent to 110.8 (provisional) from 110.5 (provisional) for the previous month.

On the other hand, the index for ‘Manufacture of Beverages’ group declined by 0.3 percent to 119.6 (provisional) from 119.9 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Manufacture of Tobacco Products’ group declined by 0.7 percent to 149.3 (provisional) from 150.3 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Manufacture of Wearing Apparel’ group declined by 0.7 percent to 138.2 (provisional) from 139.2 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Manufacture of Wood and of Products of Wood and Cork’ group declined by 0.8 percent to 132.0 (provisional) from 133.1 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Printing and Reproduction of Recorded Media’ group declined by 0.8 percent to 145.3 (provisional) from 146.4 (provisional) for the previous month and The index for ‘Manufacture of Pharmaceuticals, Medicinal Chemical and Botanical Products’ group declined by 0.1 percent to 121.8 (provisional) from 121.9 (provisional) for the previous month.

Besides, The index for ‘Manufacture of Basic Metals’ group declined by 0.8 percent to 112.1 (provisional) from 113.0 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Manufacture of Computer, Electronic and Optical Products’ group declined by 0.4 percent to 110.9 (provisional) from 111.3 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Manufacture of Furniture’ group declined by 1.9 percent to 125.1 (provisional) from 127.5 (provisional) for the previous month and The index for ‘Other Manufacturing’ group declined by 2.1 percent to 104.7 (provisional) from 106.9 (provisional) for the previous month.