WPI Inflation Spikes to Record High of 15.08% in April Against 14.55% in March

The government said that the high rate of inflation was due to a rise in prices of crude petroleum.

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Wholesale price index (WPI) inflation has spiked to a record high of 15.08 percent in April against 14.55 percent in March, data from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) showed Tuesday, 17 May.

“The high rate of inflation in April 2022 was primarily due to rise in prices of mineral oils, basic metals, crude petroleum and natural gas, food articles, non-food articles, food products and chemicals & chemical products etc. as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year,” the government said in a press release.

Acccording to the RBI's Monetary Policy Report for April 2021, an ideal inflation rate should remain close to 4 percent till March 2026, and should be sustained between 2 and 6 percent.

However, April 2022 marks the 13th consecutive month where the country has witnessed double-digit inflation.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, earlier this month, announced a decision by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to raise the policy repo rate by 40 basis points to 4.40 percent.