Wholesale inflation falls to 2.6% in Sept as food items soften

New Delhi, Oct. 16 (PTI): Wholesale inflation fell to 2.60 % in September as prices of food articles, led by vegetables, softened.
Inflation, based on the wholesale price index (WPI), had soared to a four-month high of 3.24 % in August 2017.
It was 1.36 % in September 2016.
The government data released on Monday showed that inflation in food articles tapered to 2.04 % in September, as against 5.75 % in August on an yearly basis.
Inflation in vegetable prices cooled to 15.48 % in September, as against a high of 44.91 % in the previous month.
Onion prices, however, continued to rule high with 79.78 % increase in September. In egg, meat and fish segment the rate of price rise was 5.47 %.
Inflation in manufactured products witnessed a slight increase at 2.72 %, against 2.45 % in August.
In fuel and power segment, inflation cooled to 9.01 %, against 9.99 % in August.
Fuel inflation has remained high in the past two months as petrol and diesel prices continued to be priced high relentlessly on global crude oil rates, while power tariffs shot through the roof on lower domestic production.
Pulses continued to witness deflation at 24.26 %, likewise in potato at 46.52 % and wheat at 1.71 %. The final print of July WPI inflation remained unchanged from the provisional estimate of 1.88 %.
Data released earlier this week showed that retail inflation was at 3.28 % in September, unchanged from August, even as vegetable and cereal prices had softened.
Besides industrial production grew at a nine-month high of 4.3 % in August, mainly on account of robust performance of mining and power sectors coupled with higher capital goods output.
Earlier this month, the Reserve Bank kept benchmark interest rate unchanged on fears of rising inflation while lowering growth forecast to 6.7 % for the current fiscal.
It also raised its inflation forecast to a range of 4.2 to 4.6 % during remainder of current fiscal as against 4 to 4.5 % previously.