In India, the inflation rate has been rising. In March, wholesale price inflation reached a four-month high of 14.55 percent. According to official figures, retail inflation reached a 17-month high of 6.95 percent over the same time.
INFLATION OF WHOLESALE PRICES
WPI inflation was 13.11 percent in February of this year, whereas it was 7.89 percent in March of the previous year.
WPI inflation has been in double digits for the 12th month in a row, dating back to April 2021. It reached a peak of 14.87 percent in November 2021.
RETAIL INFLATION
The retail inflation rate in India, which has been rising since September of last year, reached 6.07 percent in February of this year, according to National Statistical Office statistics (NSO). Retail inflation was 6.01 percent in January of this year.
In March, inflation stayed over the 6% barrier for the third month in a row. The previous high was 7.61 percent, set in October 2020.
FACTORS
The recent increase in inflation was caused by increased crude oil and other commodity prices as a result of the disruption in the global supply chain caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.
As per the Commerce and Industry Ministry’s wholesale price-based inflation data, crude oil prices were the largest contributor to the increase in WPI inflation in March 2022 compared to February, followed by fuels and core goods.
Retail inflation, on the other hand, increased mostly as a result of rising costs for important food goods such as ‘oils and fats,’ vegetables, and protein-rich foods such as ‘meat and fish.’