India WPI Data: Wholesale Inflation Jumps To A Seven-Month High In December

India’s wholesale inflation jumped to a seven-month high in December as prices of food articles surged.

Wholesale inflation, as measured by the wholesale price index, stood at 2.59 percent in December compared with 0.58 percent in the preceding month, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. A Bloomberg poll of 23 economists had pegged WPI at 2.42 percent.

Retail inflation, too, surged above the tolerance band of India’s monetary policy committee, pushed up by a surge in food prices and an increase in telecom tariffs. Consumer price inflation rose to 7.35 percent in December—highest level since July 2014. Core inflation, too, rose to 3.75 percent in December from 3.5 percent last month.

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Wholesale Inflation Internals

• Primary articles inflation stood at 11.46 percent in December against 7.7 percent in November.
• Food articles inflation stood at 13.24 percent compared with 11.1 percent in the previous month.
• The index of non-food articles rose to 7.7 percent from 1.93 percent in November.
• Fuel and power index contracted 1.46 percent against a fall of 7.93 percent in November.
• Manufactured products contracted 0.25 percent compared with a fall of 0.84 percent in the previous month.