October WPI inflation rises to 7%; food inflation at 18.19%

NEW DELHI: The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for the month of October rose to 7% versus 6.46% in September. This is in line with an ET Now Poll prediction of 7.1%. The August WPI inflation was revised to 6.99% versus 6.10% provisional.

While fuel and power inflation for October rose to 10.33% versus 10.08% in September, the manufactured products inflation was reported at 2.50% versus 2.03% in September.

The food inflation rose to as high as 18.19% versus 18.4% in September. The primary articles inflation came in at 14.68% versus 13.54% in September.

Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan has described food inflation as "worryingly high". "The price situation will improve once the impact of new crop is felt on the market," he has said.

"The new CPI index came in at 10.1 per cent. Food inflation is still worryingly high, and the effects of the harvest are still awaited," he said.

The retail inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), was back in double digit in October (latest data) after seven months mainly on account of rising prices of onion, potato and tomato as well as fruits.

Food inflation based on CPI was 12.56 per cent in October.

Rajan, however, took comfort from the fact that core inflation has started showing signs of easing and its impact would be visible on overall inflation.

"But looking through the headline numbers, I am somewhat more heartened by the outcome of core CPI inflation, which declined to 8.1 percent from 8.5 percent in September. The momentum for core inflation is also on the decline," he said.