ECONOMY

Wholesale inflation in May surges to a record high of 15.88%, fuelled by costly food & fuel

Wholesale price-based inflation rose to a record high of 15.88 per cent in May on rising prices of food items and crude oil.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was 15.08 per cent in April and 13.11 per cent in May last year. 

“The high rate of inflation in May 2022 is primarily due to rise in prices of mineral oils, crude petroleum and natural gas, food articles, basic metals, non-food articles, chemicals and chemical products and food products as compared to (those of) the corresponding month of the previous year,” the Commerce and Industry Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. 

The WPI inflation has remained in double digits for the 14th consecutive month since April last year and has been in the upper trajectory for three straight months. 

Inflation in food articles in May was 12.34 per cent as prices of vegetables, wheat, fruits and potato witnessed sharp spike over those of the year-ago period. The rate of price rise in vegetables was 56.36 per cent, while in wheat, it was 10.55 per cent and in egg, meat and fish, inflation was 7.78 per cent. 

In the fuel and power basket, inflation was 40.62 per cent, while in manufactured products and oil seeds, it was 10.11 per cent and 7.08 per cent respectively. Inflation in crude petroleum and natural gas was 79.50 per cent in May. 

Retail inflation in May was 7.04 per cent, remaining above the RBI’s inflation target for the fifth straight month. 

The RBI hiked its key interest rate by 40 basis points in May and 50 basis points in June to tame stubbornly-high inflation.

Last week, the central bank also raised inflation projection by 100 basis points to 6.7 per cent for 2022-23.

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