Wholesale inflation dips marginally to 0.2% in Feb

Wholesale inflation rate declined marginally to 0.2 per cent in February compared to 0.27 per cent in the preceding month despite a slight uptick in the food basket.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation was in the negative zone from April to October and had turned positive in November at 0.26 per cent.

The inflation in February 2023 was 3.85 per cent.

"The annual rate of inflation based on all India WPI number is 0.20 per cent (provisional) for the month of February 2024 (over February 2023)," the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Food inflation moved up marginally to 6.95 per cent in February from 6.85 per cent in January, data showed.

Inflation in vegetables was 19.78 per cent, up from 19.71 in January.

The WPI inflation in pulses was at 18.48 per cent in February compared to 16.06 in January.

The data showed that inflation in the "fuel and power" segment contracted further by 1.59 per cent in February against a deflation of 0.51 per cent in January.

The prices of manufactured products, too, declined 1.27 per cent compared to 1.13 per cent in January.

While WPI is a key macro data suggesting the price producers get in the wholesale market, the inflation measured by movement in Consumer Price Index (CPI) reflects retail prices and forms the basis for the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy actions.

Earlier in the week, the government had released CPI data, which showed that retail inflation in February stood at 5.09 per cent and remained within the RBI's comfort zone of 6 per cent for the sixth month in a row.

The February, WPI print, too, was almost unchanged compared to the January number of 5.1 per cent, though the data showed prices of certain items in the food basket had firmed up.