WPI inflation eases to 18-month low of 10.7 pc in Sep

NEW DELHI: Wholesale inflation in India softened substantially in September led by a broad-based moderation in prices -- for both food and non-food items, said Morgan Stanley.

India's wholesale price index-based inflation eased to 10.7 per cent in September as against 12.41 per cent recorded in the previous month, as per the government data released on Friday. Despite the decline, Whole Price Index (WPI) based inflation has, however, remained in double digits for the 18th month in a row.

A report authored by Morgan Stanley's economists Upasana Chachra and Bani Gambhir said India's wholesale inflation softened to an 18-month low in September.

The report said the food inflation was the lowest since December 2021. The rate of inflation based on the WPI Food Index decreased from 9.93 per cent in August 2022 to 8.08 per cent in September 2022, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

"Fuel WPI slowed to 32.6 per cent YoY in September from 33.7 per cent in August as electricity prices fell, even though mineral oils rose slightly," the Morgan Stanley report said.

"Core WPI (manufacturing ex-food) decelerates further to a 19-month low of 7 per cent YoY in September from 7.9 per cent in August: This was led by a further downswing in global commodity prices," the report said.

High inflation had been a big challenge for economic policymakers in India.

For the record, India's retail inflation remained above the Reserve Bank of India's mandated range of 2-6 per cent for the third straight quarter which would mandate the central bank to explain to the government the reasons for not being able to control the price rise.

As per the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, data released on Wednesday, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation rose to 7.41 per cent in September from 7 per cent in the previous month.

CPI-based retail inflation stood at 4.35 per cent in September 2021.