Wholesale price index continued to remain in the negative zone in India

Wholesale inflation in India, based on the wholesale price index, continued to remain in the negative zone for the sixth month until September, official data showed on Monday. It entered negative territory in April this year. Similarly, in the early days of Covid, in July 2020, the WPI was reported to be negative.
According to the official data of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, wholesale inflation in September was (-) 0.52 percent in August, (-) 0.26 percent against (-) 0.52 percent, and (-) 1.23 percent in July last year. said.
Deflation in September was mainly due to lower prices of chemicals and chemical products, mineral oil, textiles, base metals and food products compared to the same month last year.
The WPI data came after the statistics ministry said on October 12 that retail inflation fell to a three-month low of 5.02 percent in September.
The government releases monthly wholesale price index numbers on the 14th of each month (or the next business day). Index numbers are compiled from data from institutional sources and selected industry sectors across the country.
Headline inflation was 8.39 percent in October 2022 and has been declining since then. In particular, the wholesale price index (WPI) inflation has doubled for 18 consecutive months until September last year.
Meanwhile, retail inflation in India returned to the RBI’s 2-6 percent range again in September, but was higher than the ideal scenario of 4 percent. Retail inflation was 5.02 percent in September.
Barring a recent break, the RBI has raised the repo rate by 250 basis points from May 2022 to fight inflation. Increasing interest rates is usually a monetary policy tool that helps reduce demand in the economy and thus lower inflation.
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