India's Wholesale Inflation Drops to 14-Month Low in May

(WPI)-based inflation fell to a 14-month low of 0.39% in May, down from 0.85% in the previous month, according to provisional data released on Monday by the ministry of commerce and industry.

- Rhik Kundu

A favourable base aided the drop, with food, non-food manufacturing, minerals, and fuel and power segments contributing.

This follows a drop in India's retail inflation in May, which cooled to its lowest level in more than six years at 2.8%, helped by a sharp moderation in food prices, according to provisional government data released last week.

The WPI, a proxy for producers' prices, stood at 2.25% in March, 2.38% in February and 2.51% in January.

The latest wholesale inflation came in below expectations, with prices rising less than the 0.8% projected by economists in a Reuters poll.