WPI inflation, which was on a declining trend since December 2017, accelerated in April due to an unfavourable base effect, a seasonal uptick in food prices as well as the pass through of rising global crude oil prices.
New Delhi: Inflation based on wholesale prices touched a four-month high of 3.18 per cent in April on increasing prices of petrol and diesel as well as fruits and vegetables. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation stood at 2.47 per cent in March and 3.85 per cent in April last year.
WPI inflation, which was on a declining trend since December 2017, accelerated in April due to an unfavourable base effect, a seasonal uptick in food prices as well as the pass through of rising global crude oil prices. Inflation in December was 3.58 per cent.
According to government data released today, inflation in food articles was at 0.87 per cent in April 2018, as against a deflation of 0.29 per cent in the preceding month. Deflation in vegetables was 0.89 per cent in April, while in the previous month it was 2.70 per cent.
Inflation in fruits was in double digits at 19.47 per cent in April, up from 9.26 per cent in March. Inflation in ‘fuel and power’ basket rose sharply to 7.85 per cent in April from 4.70 per cent in March as prices of domestic fuel increased in line with rising global crude oil rates.
In the ‘fuel and power’ basket in WPI, petrol inflation spiked to 9.45 per cent in April from 2.55 per cent in March; while diesel jumped to 13.01 per cent from 6.12 per cent in the previous month.
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