Wholesale inflation in May rose to a record high of 15.88 per cent from 15.08 per cent in April owing to the rise in prices of minerals, oils, basic metals, chemicals, foods and non-food products, according to the Ministry of Finance.
This is the 14th consecutive month that the WPI Inflation has remained in double-digits. The consumer price-based inflation figure stayed well above the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) upper tolerance limit for the fifth consecutive month in 2022.
“The high rate of inflation in May, 2022 is primarily due to rise in prices of mineral oils, crude petroleum & natural gas, food articles, basic metals, non-food articles, chemicals & chemical products and food products etc. as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year,” the government said.
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Inflation in the food basket soared from 8.35 per cent in April to 12.34 per cent in May as the prices of cereals, paddy, wheat, pulses, vegetables, and potato continue to remain high. In the fuel and power basket, WPI Inflation soared from 38.66 per cent in April to 40.62 per cent in May. Meanwhile, WPI inflation in the manufactured products witnessed a decline from 10.85 per cent in April to 10.11 per cent in May.
The Reserve Bank of India in its Monetary Policy Committee Meet in June, hiked the key repo rate by 40 basis points (bps) to 4.9 per cent in order to tame inflation.
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