Wholesale price inflation accelerated to 14.55% in March

Tags: Economics/Business

Inflation in India’s wholesale prices hit a four-month high of 14.55% in March, from 13.11% in February.

• The main reason for inflation in the month of March 2022 is the rise in the prices of petroleum, natural gas, mineral oil, and basic metals, which has arisen due to disruption in the global supply chain due to the Russia-Ukraine war.

• This is the 12th month in a row that wholesale inflation has exceeded 10%.

• Fuel and power inflation surged to a three-month high of 34.5% in March, from 31.5% in February, while inflation in primary articles accelerated to 15.54% from 13.39%. 

• The month-on-month rise in the fuel and power index was 5.68%, more than double February’s 2.7%. 

• The sharp rise in fuel and power inflation was triggered mainly by an uptick in electricity prices.

• Wholesale price inflation, which was at 7.89% in March 2021, had hit a record high of 14.9% in November 2021 and was at 14.3% in December. 

• What Is a Wholesale Price Index (WPI)?

—it is an important index for calculating inflation in a country.

—Wholesale Price Index (WPI) measures the changes in the prices of goods sold and traded in bulk by wholesale businesses to other businesses.

—WPI is unlike the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which tracks the prices of goods and services purchased by consumers.

–It is published by the Office of the Economic Adviser, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.