India’s wholesale inflation accelerated at a faster pace in May owing to higher prices of a wide range of products.
The wholesale price index rose 15.88% on year in May after a 15.08% increase in April, preliminary government data showed Tuesday. The WPI climbed to 154.0 in May from 151.9 in April.
The high inflation in May was mainly due to the rise in prices of mineral oils, crude petroleum, natural gas, basic metals, non-food articles, chemicals, food and other products as compared to the same month of the previous year, the government said.
The WPI data come after preliminary government data on Monday showed India’s consumer price index rose 7.0% on year in May after a 7.8% increase in April. Economists had expected consumer prices to rise 7.3%, according to a consensus provided by FactSet.
The Reserve Bank of India on June 8 raised its policy repo rate by 50 basis points to 4.9% to contain consumer inflation, which is above the central bank’s target range of 2% to 6%. The RBI expects consumer inflation to average 6.7% in the fiscal year that began in April, above the 5.7% previously forecast.
Write to Ronnie Harui at [email protected]
