India June wholesale prices fall for third straight month
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INDIA’S annual wholesale prices fell for the third successive month in June, mainly due to lower fuel and power prices, government data showed on Friday (Jul 14).
The wholesale price index (WPI) in June fell 4.12 per cent, compared with a 3.60 per cent decline estimated by economists in a Reuters poll. In May, it dropped 3.48 per cent.
June wholesale price inflation is at the lowest level since September 2015.
In June, fuel and power prices fell 12.63 per cent from a year earlier, compared with a fall of 9.17 per cent in May and prices of primary articles fell 2.87 per cent versus a fall of 1.79 per cent.
Food prices fell 1.24 per cent year-on-year, compared with 1.59 per cent in May, and manufactured product prices fell 2.71 per cent in June, against a 2.97 per cent fall the previous month.
However, inflation has started to accelerate in the South Asian country after showing signs of easing in the last few months.
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Government data last week showed June retail inflation quickened to 4.81 per cent, higher than both the revised 4.31 per cent for the previous month and the 4.58 per cent expected in a Reuters poll of 55 economists, on the back of surging food prices.
Rupa Rege Nitsure, economist at L&T Finance Holdings, said deflationary pressures were expected to lessen going forward as food prices have started rising due to extreme weather events and uneven rainfall.
At its last meeting, the Reserve Bank of India kept interest rates on hold and economists do not expect the central bank to tinker with rates through 2023.
April’s wholesale price decline was revised to 0.79 per cent, from a fall of 0.92 per cent. REUTERS
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