India’s WPI inflation eases to 3.85 per cent in February

India’s Wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation eased below the 4 per cent-mark in February and was recorded at 3.85 per cent, data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed.

 In January, the WPI inflation figure was 4.73 per cent. This is the lowest since January 2021 when the WPI inflation was 2.51 per cen

Reason behind the decline in Wholesale price index (WPI):

According to the data released, the decline in the rate of inflation in February is primarily due to the fall in prices of crude petroleum & natural gas, non-food articles, food products, minerals, computer, electronic & optical products, chemicals & chemical products, electrical equipment and motor vehicles, trailers & semi-trailers.

Wholesale price index (WPI): Food Index:

The Food Index consisting of ‘Food Articles’ from Primary Articles group and ‘Food Product’ from Manufactured Products group have increased from 171.2 in January 2023 to 171.3 in February 2023.

The rate of inflation based on WPI Food Index decreased from 2.95 per cent in January 2023 to 2.76 per cent in February 2023,” the commerce ministry said. For the primary articles segment, the inflation rate eased to 3.28 per cent from 3.88 per cent in the previous month.

The month over month change in WPI for the month of February 2023 stood at 0.20 per cent as compared to January 2023. The WPI based inflation rate was 13.43 per cent in February 2022.

Wholesale price index (WPI): crude petroleum & natural gas:

Inflation in crude petroleum & natural gas was 14.47 per cent in February down from 23.79 per cent in January.

Fuel and power inflation declined to 14.82 per cent as against 15.15 per cent in the previous month. Inflation for manufactured products was 1.94 per cent in February down from 2.99 per cent in January.