Wholesale Inflation drops to 2.76% in January
New Delhi: Inflation based on wholesale prices fell to a 10-month low of 2.76 per cent in January this year, according to government data released on Thursday.
According to the data, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation stood at 3.8 per cent in December 2018, and 3.02 per cent in January 2018. WPI inflation stood at 2.74 per cent in March 2018.
Inflation in kitchen essentials like potato, onion, fruits, and milk softened in January over the previous month, the data revealed.
However, the rate of price rise in the food basket, as a whole, rose to 2.34 per cent in the month under review compared to a deflation (-0.07 per cent) in the previous month.
Currently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) tracks consumer inflation data primarily to formulate its monetary policy. The apex court had cut the key lending rate by 0.25 per cent this month.
The decline in inflation may provide further head-room to the central bank to cut interest rate (repo) in coming months, experts said.
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