WPI inflation eases to 2.47% in March

New Delhi: Inflation based on wholesale prices eased marginally to 2.47% in March on cheaper food articles, especially pulses and vegetables.

On the basis of Wholesale Price Index (WPI), inflation was 2.48% in February and 5.11% in March last year.

According to a government data released on April 16, 2018, food articles showed deflation at 0.29% in March as against a 0.88% inflation in the preceding month.

Deflation in vegetables was 2.70%, pulses (20.58%) and wheat (1.19%) in March.

Inflation in ‘fuel and power’ basket however rose to 4.70% in March from 3.81% in the previous month.

The inflation data for January was revised upwards to 3.02% from the provisional estimate of 2.84%.

Retail inflation, as per data released last week, slipped to a five-month low of 4.28% in March on account of decline in food prices.

In its first monetary policy review for the fiscal, the Reserve Bank of India earlier this month maintained status-quo on interest rate citing inflationary concerns.

It revised downwards forecast for retail inflation to 4.7-5.1% for April-September and 4.4% for October-March.