WPI Inflation Rises To 13.11% In February

India’s wholesale inflation increased on costlier manufactured products.

Inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index, stood at 13.11% in February 2022 against 12.96% in January, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Monday. That’s the eleventh straight month of double-digit print.

The gauge rose 1.4% over the previous month compared with a 0.28% decline in January.

In month-on-month terms, the WPI rose after two months of mild easing, with a broad-based rise across the major groups except for primary food articles, said Aditi Nayar, chief economist at ICRA. The fresh spike may have been triggered by geo-political tensions, she said.

WPI core inflation- non-food manufacturing inflation is estimated to have increased slightly to 10.0% year-on-year in February 2022 from 9.7% year-on-year in January 2022, with a sequential rise of 0.79% compared to 0.48% in the previous month, according to Suman Chowdhury, chief analytical officer at Acuité Ratings. Amidst increasing pressures on the profit margins of manufacturing companies and a pickup in consumption demand, a further pass through of input costs is expected.

Looking ahead, the global surge in commodity prices, including crude and edible oils, poses the chief risk to the WPI inflation trajectory, Nayar also said. "We now expect the WPI inflation to print at a high 13-14% in March 2022," she added.

WPI Inflation Internals (Year-On-Year)

• Inflation in manufactured products—the largest component of the index—stood at 9.84% compared with 9.42% in January.

• Primary articles inflation stood at 13.4% compared with 13.87% in the previous month.

• Inflation in food articles was at 8.2% against 10.33% the previous month.

• Vegetables inflation stood at 26.93% compared with 38.45% in the previous month.

• Inflation in non-food articles was at 24.2% against 19.68% in the previous month.

• Fuel and power inflation stood at 31.5% against 32.27% in January.