India’s WPI inflation eases for second straight month; falls to 3.80% in December

India’s Wholesale price index (WPI) inflation eased for the second straight month in December 2018. The inflation stood at an eight-month low, on the back of fall in fuel and power inflation. According to the latest data released by the government, WPI slowed down to 3.80 percent in December from 4.64 percent in November and 3.58 percent during the corresponding month of the previous year. Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 3.27 percent compared to a build up rate of 2.21 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Component wise, primary articles index having weight of 22.62 percent, declined by 1.8 percent to 134.7 (provisional) from 137.2 (provisional) for the previous month. Among the primary articles, the index for ‘Food Articles’ group declined by 1.4 percent to 144.0 (provisional) from 146.1 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Non-Food Articles’ group declined by 0.1 percent to 124.5 (provisional) from 124.6 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for 'Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas' group declined by 11.9 percent to 91.7 (provisional) from 104.1 (provisional) for the previous month. On the flip side, the index for ‘Minerals’ group rose by 7.7 percent to 140.4 (provisional) from 130.4 (provisional) for the previous month. Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15 percent, fell 5.9 percent to 103.5 (provisional) from 110.0 (provisional) for the previous month.

Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23 percent, declined by 0.4 percent to 118.3 (provisional) from 118.8 (provisional) for the previous month. Among these, the index for ‘Manufacture of Food Products’ group declined by 1.0 percent to 127.7 (provisional) from 129.0 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Leather and Related Products’ group declined by 0.3 percent to 121.1 (provisional) from 121.5 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Manufacture of Paper and Paper Products’ group declined by 0.1 percent to 125.2 (provisional) from 125.3 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Manufacture of Chemicals and Chemical Products’ group declined by 0.7 percent to 120.0 (provisional) from 120.8 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Manufacture of Rubber and Plastics Products’ group declined by 0.2 percent to 110.2 (provisional) from 110.4 (provisional) for the previous month.

Besides, the index for ‘Manufacture of Other Non-Metallic Mineral Products’ group declined by 0.3 percent to 115.2 (provisional) from 115.6 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Manufacture of Basic Metals’ group declined by 1.2 percent to 112.5 (provisional) from 113.9 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Manufacture of Fabricated Metal Products, Except Machinery and Equipment’ group declined by 0.1 percent to 116.1 (provisional) from 116.2 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Manufacture of Computer, Electronic and Optical Products’ group declined by 0.6 percent to 112.3 (provisional) from 113.0 (provisional) for the previous month, The index for ‘Manufacture of Electrical Equipment’ group declined by 0.1 percent to 112.0 (provisional) from 112.1 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Manufacture of Motor Vehicles, Trailers and Semi-Trailers’ group declined by 0.8 percent to 112.8 (provisional) from 113.7 (provisional) for the previous month.

On the other hand, the index for ‘Manufacture of Beverages’ group rose by 0.2 percent to 122.0 (provisional) from 121.7 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Textiles’ group increased by 0.1 percent to 119.2 (provisional) from 119.1 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Wearing Apparel’ group was up by 0.2 percent to 138.4 (provisional) from 138.1 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Wood and of Products of Wood and Cork ‘ group surged 0.3 percent to 133.9 (provisional) from 133.5 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Printing and Reproduction of Recorded Media’ group soared 0.7 percent to 147.5 (provisional) from 146.5 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Manufacture of Other Transport Equipment’ group rose by 0.3 percent to 112.4 (provisional) from 112.1 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for 'Other Manufacturing' group jumped 7.0 percent to 114.6 (provisional) from 107.1 (provisional) for the previous month.