Retail inflation eases to 10.7% in September on softening food, fuel prices

New Delhi, Oct 14: The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation declined to 10.7 per cent in September as against 12.41 per cent recorded in August 2022, the government data released on Friday said.

The sharp decline in the WPI is primarily mainly on account of softening food and fuel prices and manufactured items. WPI measures the price changes of goods that wholesale businesses sell to other businesses.

"Inflation in September, 2022 is primarily contributed by rise in prices of mineral oils, food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas, chemicals & chemical products, basic metals, electricity, textiles etc. as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year", said the government release.

The WPI inflation continued its declining trend for the fourth consecutive month in September but remained in double-digits.

This year, the WPI touched a record high of 15.88 per cent in May. September is the 18th consecutive month of double-digit WPI inflation.

The Reserve Bank of India mainly looks at retail inflation to frame monetary policy. On Wednesday, the Reserve Bank of India announced that the retail inflation had surged to 7.41 per cent year on year (YoY), due to surge in food prices. The central bank has already raised the key interest rate four times this year to 5.90 per cent in a bid to tame the high inflation.