NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s annual wholesale-price based inflation (WPI) fell for the first time in nearly 3 years in April, as prices softened across the board.
WPI fell to 0.92%, compared with March where it had risen 1.34%. The data was below Reuters poll that predicted a fall of 0.20%.
In April, the food index rose 0.17% year-on-year, from 2.32% in March, while fuel and power rose 0.93% from 8.96%.
WPI has been easing for the last 11 months from the 20-year highs of 16.63% recorded in May 2022.
The decline in the rate of inflation was broad based, primarily driven by fall in prices of crude, energy prices, non-food and food articles, the government said in the statement.
Data released on Friday showed India’s annual retail inflation eased to 18-month low in April, staying well below the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) upper tolerance limit for the second consecutive month.
(Reporting by Aftab Ahmed and Shivangi Acharya; Editing by Kim Coghill)
