According to the government’s data showed on Thursday, annual wholesale price inflation eased to a 10-month low of 2.76 per cent in January, helped by a smaller increase in prices of manufactured goods and fuel products.
Last month, the annual wholesale price inflation was lower than a provisional 3.80 per cent rise in December and below a 3.65 per cent increase forecast by economists in a poll by news agency Reuters.
Wholesale inflation, measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), grew 3.02 per cent in January 2018.
The ministry in an official release said: “The rate of inflation based on WPI Food Index consisting of ‘Food Articles’ from Primary Articles group and ‘Food Product’ from Manufactured Products group increased from 0.07% in December 2018 to 1.84% in January 2019.”
Prices of fuel and power, which together have a weightage of 13.15 per cent in WPI, grew at 1.85 per cent in January, as against a rise of 8.38 per cent in December.