India’s wholesale inflation soared to highest in more than three decades as Russia’s war in Ukraine and supply-chain disruptions pushed up input cost for producers.
Wholesale prices in April rose 15.08 per cent from a year earlier, the highest since September 1991, data released by the Commerce Ministry showed on Tuesday. That’s higher than the median estimate of a 14.92 per cent gain in a Bloomberg survey of 14 economists.
“The high print is mainly because of fuel and power, but it will take some time for this component to come down,” said Soumya Kanti Ghosh, chief economist at the State Bank of India. “High oil prices would likely continue even after the war comes to an end.”
Figures last week showed retail inflation for the same month jumped to an eight-year high. The Reserve Bank of India announced a surprise rate hike earlier this month to tame price-growth that’s already breached its 6 per cent upper tolerance limit this year. In the next monetary policy due June, it is expected to raise rates further and also revise its 5.7 per cent inflation forecast.
Prices of food articles rose 8.35 per cent, while fuel and power prices jumped 38.66 per cent, according to Tuesday’s release.
