Wholesale inflation cools off to 4.53% in August

Friday,   14-Sep-2018   12:23 PM (IST)

India's wholesale inflation eased at 4.53 percent in August, as some food items became cheaper, latest price data released by the commerce and industry ministry showed on Friday. The wholesale inflation grew 5.09 percent in July 2018.Wholesale inflation rate, measured by Wholesale Price Index (WPI), is a marker for price movements in bulk buys for traders and broadly mirrors trends in shop-end prices.Primary articles, which accounts for more than a fifth of the entire wholesale price index, witnessed a disinflation, falling to (-)0.15 percent from 1.73 percent in July owing to cheaper cheaper vegetables, potatoes, fruits.Food articles witnessed a negative growth of (-)2.25 percent in August from (-) 2.16 percent a month ago. Vegetables prices plummeted, rising (-)20.18 percent in August as compared with a growth of (-) 4.17 percent in July. Fuel and power inflation, which has a weightage of 13.15 percent in WPI, grew at 17.73 percent in August from 18.10 percent a month ago.