Wholesale inflation in March cooled from its three-year high in February, led by a decline in prices of manufactured products.
The Wholesale Price Index rose 5.7 per cent during the month, compared to a year ago, according to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. A Bloomberg survey of economists had pegged the inflation to grow 6 per cent.
Here are the key inflation figures in March 2017, when compared to the prices in March 2016.
- Food prices rose 3.12 per cent.
- Prices of primary articles rose 4.63 per cent.
- Prices of manufactured goods rose 2.99 per cent.
The reading for January was revised higher to 5.53 per cent from 5.25 per cent earlier.
Retail Inflation Pressures
The Consumer Price Index surged to a five-month high of 3.8 per cent in March. The rise, however, was below-the-expected figure of 3.94 per cent because of easing food prices.
The Reserve Bank of India expects retail inflation to average 4.5 per cent in the first half of the financial year 2017-18 and 5 per cent in the second half.
The Monetary Policy Committee remains committed to bringing headline inflation closer to 4.0 per cent on a durable basis and in a calibrated manner. Accordingly, inflation developments have to be closely and continuously monitored, with food price pressures kept in check so that inflation expectations can be re-anchored.RBI’s Post Policy Statement (6 April)
(This story was originally published in BloombergQuint)
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