India’s wholesale inflation jumps to record 15.88 percent
New Delhi, Jun 14 (EFE).- India’s wholesale price index shot up to 15.88 percent in May, marking a new all-time high for an economy which is under pressure by the rising international oil and commodity prices as well as the weakening of the Indian rupee.
The annual inflation rate, based on the WPI, “is 15.88% (Provisional) for the month of May, 2022 (over May, 2021) as compared to 13.11% in May, 2021,” the Indian ministry of commerce and industry said in a report.
The surge in the index, which has been in double digits for more than a year, is “primarily due to rise in prices of mineral oils, crude petroleum & natural gas, food articles, basic metals, non-food articles, chemicals & chemical products and food products etc. as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year,” the ministry said.
According to the report, manufactured products contributed 64 percent to the rise, while food represented 24.4 percent of the figure.
The data comes a day after the ministry of statistics released the consumer price index figures for May, which stood at 7.04 percent, marginally lower than the 7.79 percent recorded in April, marking the highest monthly inflation rate in eight years.
The figures are a matter of concern for the Indian economy, as the Reserve Bank of India has kept its inflation target within a range of 2-6 percent.
The RBI, which has begun to withdraw its lax monetary policies implemented during the pandemic, had increased the key lending rate by 90 basis points to 4.9 percent in an attempt to curb the inflationary pressure on the economy.
The Indian rupee, which has been depreciating sharply due to domestic and international factors, on Monday crossed the 78 units per United States dollar mark for the first time and has lost around 5 percent of its value so far this year.
In this context, all eyes in the market continue to be on the RBI, which is expected to make another major intervention to prevent the Indian currency from entering a depreciation spiral and to curb inflation. EFE
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