Wholesale price-based inflation spiked to a record high of 15.08 per cent in April on rising prices across segments from food to commodities. The WPI-based inflation was 14.55 per cent in March and 10.74 per cent in April last year.
“The high rate of inflation in April 2022 was primarily due to rise in prices of mineral oils, basic metals, crude petroleum & natural gas, food articles, non-food articles, food products and chemicals & chemical products etc. as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year,” the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement. The WPI inflation has remained in double digit for the 13th consecutive month since April last year.
Inflation in food articles was 8.35 per cent, as prices of vegetables, wheat, fruits and potato witnessed sharp spike over the year-ago period. In the fuel and power basket, inflation was 38.66 per cent, while in manufactured products and oil seeds, it was 10.85 per cent and 16.10 per cent, respectively.
Inflation in crude petroleum and natural gas was 69.07 per cent in April. Data released last week showed that retail inflation rose to a near 8-year high of 7.79 per cent in April, remaining above the Reserve Bank’s inflation target for the fourth straight month.
To tame stubbornly high inflation, the RBI earlier this month hiked its key interest rate by 0.40 per cent and cash reserve ratio by 0.50 per cent in a surprise move.
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