March wholesale inflation at 4-month high of 14.55%, worse than estimates
Wholesale inflation accelerated to a four-month high of 14.55 percent in March, official data showed. That was much worse than economists' expectations.
Wholesale inflation in the country -- measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) -- worsened to 14.55 percent in March from 13.11 percent in the previous month, data released on Monday showed. The reading for March was the highest in four months and much worse than economists' expectations.
Economists in a CNBC-TV18 poll had estimated wholesale inflation -- or the rate of increase in wholesale prices -- to be at 13.30 percent last month.
Wholesale inflation in the food category came accelerated to 8.71 percent in March, from 8.47 percent in the previous month.
Inflation in the fuel and power category worsened to 34.52 percent in March from 31.50 percent in the previous month.
| Category | Inflation (%) | |
| March 2022 | February 2022 | |
| Primary articles | 15.54 | 13.39 |
| Manufactured products | 10.71 | 9.84 |
| Vegetables | 19.88 | 26.93 |
| Potato | 24.62 | 14.78 |
| Onion | -9.33 | -26.37 |
| Eggs, meat and fish | 9.42 | 8.14 |
The price increase in vegetables, however, eased to 19.88 percent last month from 26.93 percent in February. Potato inflation came in at 24.62 percent in March, as against 14.78 percent in the previous month.
Deflation -- or the rate of decrease in prices -- in onion accelerated to 9.33 percent from 26.37 percent in the previous month.
Core inflation -- or inflation excluding food and energy -- stood at 10.9 percent in March as against 10 percent in the previous month, as against the expectation of 10 percent by economists in the CNBC-TV18 poll.
The all commodities index saw an increase of 2.69 percent in March.
The WPI inflation reading for January was revised to 13.68 percent from 12.96 percent, according to the official release.
The RBI tracks consumer inflation primarily for formulating its monetary policy.
In its first bi-monthly review of the current financial year, the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee kept key interest rates on hold and prioritised inflation before growth, a switch it had made in 2020 to tackle the fallout from the pandemic.
(Edited by : Sandeep Singh)
First Published: Apr 18, 2022 12:27 PM IST
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