India’s WPI inflation creeps up to 7.5 per cent in May
14 Jun 2012
The annual rate of inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) rose to 7.55 per cent during May 2012, from 7.23 per cent in the previous month, making monetary easing a difficult job for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The inflation rate, however, was lower compared to the increase of 9.56 per cent during the corresponding month of the previous year.
Build-up of inflation in the financial year so far was 1.8 per cent, compared to the build-up of 1.94 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The official wholesale price index for 'all commodities' (base: 2004-05 = 100) during May 2012 rose 0.5 per cent to 163.9 (provisional) from 163.1 (provisional) in the previous month.
While the price spike, led by high prices of vegetables and other food items may not come in the way of short-term policy easing by the RBI, overall WPI inflation in the country is expected to be in the 6.5-7.5 per cent range, even according to the finance ministry's estimates.
The index for the `primary articles' group rose 0.1 per cent to 216.1 (provisional) during May 2012, from 215.9 (provisional) in the previous month.
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