Wholesale price index-based inflation (WPI) rose to 0.16 per cent in August as food and manufactured items became costlier. This information has been given in a statement issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Monday. Earlier, for the last 4 consecutive months, wholesale inflation remained negative. It was -1.57 percent in April, -3.37 percent in May, -1.81 percent in June and -0.58 percent in July.
The statement said that wholesale price index based inflation in August 2020 has been 0.16 per cent (temporary). It was 1.17 percent in August 2019. Food inflation in August stood at 3.84 percent. During this period, the prices of potatoes increased by 82.93 percent. Inflation in vegetables was 7.03 percent. During this period, onion became cheaper by 34.48 percent.
In the month under review, inflation in fuel and electricity came down to 9.68 per cent. In the previous month ie in July, it was 9.84 percent. However, inflation of manufactured items rose to 1.27 per cent during this period, from 0.51 per cent in July. The Reserve Bank of India did not change the policy rates in the monetary review last month because of the risk of inflation going upwards. The RBI has predicted inflation to moderate during the October-March period.
