Lower food prices ease India's WPI to 4.53% in August

New Delhi: A massive fall in food prices and cost of primary articles eased India's annual inflation rate based on wholesale prices to 4.53 percent in August from a 5.09 percent rise in July.

However, on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) furnished by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Friday was still higher than 3.24 percent reported for the corresponding period of 2017.

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"Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 3.18 per cent compared to a build up rate of 1.41 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year," the Ministry statement said here.

On a sequential basis, the expenses on primary articles, which constitute 22.62 percent of the WPI's total weightage, slipped by (-) 0.15 percent, from an increase of 1.73 percent in July.

Similarly, the prices of food articles dipped. The category has a weightage of 15.26 per cent in the WPI index. It deflated by (-) 4.04 percent from a rise of (-) 2.16 per cent.

Interestingly, the cost of fuel and power category, which commands a 13.15 percent weightage, increased at a slower pace of 17.73 percent from a growth of 18.10 percent.

However, expenses on manufactured products registered a rise of 4.43 per cent from 4.26 percent.

IANS