WPI: Wholesale inflation eases to 4.95% in December, impact of fall in prices of food items

India's wholesale price inflation eased from 5.85% in November to 4.95% in December 2022, mainly due to fall in prices of food articles and crude petroleum products.

Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation was 5.85% in November 2022 and 14.27% in December 2021 a year ago.

Inflation in food articles stood at (-)1.25%, while in case of fuel and power it stood at 18.09% during December 2022. The commerce and industry ministry said in a statement that inflation in the products of the construction sector was recorded at 3.37% during the month.

According to the data, the decline in inflation rate in December 2022 was mainly due to moderation in the prices of articles of articles of food articles, mineral oils, crude petroleum and natural gas, food products, textiles and chemical products.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman assured the Lok Sabha in December 2022 that the central government would take measures to bring down inflation.

Retail inflation was reduced to 5.72% in December 2022. It remained below the central bank's tolerance limit of 6% for the second month after ten consecutive months above it.

Meanwhile, rural inflation eased marginally to 6.05% in December from 6.09% in November 2022.

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