WPI inflation in October rises to 4-month high of 5.28%; key things to know

After retail inflation was recorded at a 13-month low of 3.31 percent in October, WPI inflation climbed to four-month high of 5.28 percent in the same month up from 5.13 percent in September, official data showed. The wholesale inflation stood at 3.68 percent in October last year.The upward trajectory was noted mainly due to spike in petrol and diesel prices, even as food prices softened. Meanwhile, the August WPI Inflation was revised to 4.62 percent from 4.53 percent.

The inflation for October is highest in four months as such a level was previously witnessed in June at 5.68 percent.The wholesale inflation for the month under review rose by 0.7 per cent to 121.7 (provisional) from 120.8 (provisional) for the previous month, Ministry of Commerce & Industry data showed.

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“Given the easing in the crude oil prices and the recent strengthening of the INR, we expect the WPI inflation to range between 4.5-5.0% in the remainder of H2 FY2019. Despite the change in the monetary policy stance to calibrated tightening and the uptick in the core-CPI and core-WPI inflation in October 2018, the MPC appears likely to maintain a status quo on the repo rate in the December 2018 policy review, following the decline in the October 2018 headline CPI inflation, the deep correction in crude oil prices, and the pullback in the INR,” Aditi Nayar of ICRA said.

An easing of prices was observed in the food articles with deflation at 1.49 per cent in October, against 0.21 percent September, government data showed. Compared to the 3.83 percent in the last month, the prices of vegetables also came down with deflation at 18.65 percent in October, compared to 3.83 per cent in the previous month, the data showed.

In ‘fuel and power’ basket in October rose to 18.44 percent, from 16.65 percent in the month of September. Among food articles, potato prices continued to rise with 93.65 percent inflation in the month of October. While onion observed deflation of 31.69 percent; the same for pulses stood at 13.92 percent.