India wholesale prices index contract for third month in June by 1.81% year-on-year
India’s wholesale inflation shrank for the third month in a row in June on moderated crude oil prices while that in food articles firmed up, official data released by the commerce and industry ministry on Tuesday showed.
Inflation as measured by the wholesale price index (WPI) contracted 1.81% in June. The deflation in May was 3.21%.
The ministry also released the WPI for April at -1.57% and said: "indices for April are finalized in the light of improved response rate from the selected sources”.
Inflation in food articles was 2.04%, as against 1.13% in May while fuel and power basket saw deflation of 13.60% last month against 19.83% in May.
Data released by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation on Monday showed retail inflation firming up to 6.09% in June.
“The divergence between the food inflation at the wholesale and retail level narrowed considerably while remaining substantial in June 2020, pointing to the continued varied dynamics driving food prices as the country emerges from the lockdown,” said Aditi Nayar, principal economist at ICRA.
Manufactured products, however, witnessed wholesale inflation of 0.08% in June from a 0.42% deflation in May.
“With vegetable prices rising sharply in the recent weeks, the uptick in wholesale food inflation may continue in July 2020,” Nayar said.