In April, wholesale price-based inflation (WPI) hit a new high of 15.08 percent, owing to rising food, fuel, and other commodity costs, which may force the Reserve Bank to raise interest rates at its next monetary policy meeting next month.
The 15.08 percent Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is the highest in the new series, which has data accessible since 2012-13. Since April of last year, WPI inflation has remained in double digits for the 13th month in a row.
"As compared to the same month the previous year, the high rate of inflation in April 2022 was primarily due to increases in prices of mineral oils, basic metals, crude petroleum & natural gas, food articles, non-food articles, food products, chemicals & chemical products, and chemicals & chemical products," the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement.
Food inflation was 8.35 percent, with prices of vegetables, grains, fruits, and potatoes rising dramatically from the previous year. Inflation in the fuel and electricity basket was 38.66 percent, while it was 10.85 percent in manufactured goods and 16.10 percent in oil seeds, respectively.
In April, crude petroleum and natural gas inflation was 69.07 percent.
Retail inflation surged to a near eight-year high of 7.79 percent in April, exceeding the Reserve Bank's inflation target for the fourth month in a row, according to data released last week. In an unexpected move to combat stubbornly high inflation, the RBI raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.40 percent and its cash reserve ratio by 0.50 percent earlier this month.
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