India Wholesale Prices Fall 0.32% In November

(RTTNews) - India's wholesale prices decreased for the second straight month in November, provisional data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry revealed on Monday.

The wholesale price index, or WPI, dropped 0.32 percent year-over-year in November, slower than the 1.21 percent fall in October. The expected decrease was 0.6 percent.

Food price deflation softened to 2.60 percent in November from 5.04 percent, and the price decline in primary articles was 2.93 percent versus a 6.18 percent slump in the prior month. Costs for fuel and power also decreased 2.27 percent, while the annual price growth of manufactured products eased to 1.33 from 1.54 percent.

On a monthly basis, wholesale prices rose 0.71 percent from October, when they decreased by 0.13 percent.

Data released last week showed that India's consumer price inflation rose to 0.71 percent in November from October's record low of 0.25 percent. The inflation is well below the Reserve Bank of India's tolerance band of 2-6 percent. During its December meeting, the RBI decided to cut the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.25 percent.