WPI inflation cools to 4-month-low in March

India's wholesale inflation eased to a four-month low in March, as food prices showed a slower pace of increase, according to provisional data from the Ministry of Commerce & Industry.

- Rhik Kundu

Wholesale inflation, a key gauge of producer prices, rose 2.05% year-on-year in March, down from 2.38% in February, and lower than the 2.5% forecast by economists in a Reuters poll.

Food prices, which make up 24.38% of the index, increased by 4.66% in March, a notable slowdown from the 5.94% rise in February.

Cereal prices rose 5.49% year-on-year in March, easing from the 6.77% increase recorded in February.

Meanwhile, vegetable prices contracted by 15.88%, a deeper drop than the 5.80% decline the previous month. Fruit prices rose 20.78%, nearly unchanged from February's 20.88% increase.