Context
As per the data release of the Labour department, the wholesale prices of goods recorded the biggest jump in the month of February due to an incessant rise in energy prices mainly due to the Russian -Ukraine crisis.
News Highlights
- This surge in WPI has further pushed the headline producer price index up 0.8% on the month.
- 40% increase in wholesale good prices came from gasoline which rose to 14.8%.
- This wholesale cost feed into prices is seen as a harbinger of inflation.
Wholesale price index
- WPI is the index that measures and tracks the changes in the prices of goods that are sold in bulk and traded between entities or businesses.
- It is used as one of the indicators to measure the country`s level of inflation. An upward surge in the WPI represents the inflationary pressure on the economy and vice-versa
- In India, WPI includes three groups such as
Fuel and power (13.2 percent of total weight)
Primary articles( 22.6 percent)
Manufactured products(64.2 percent)
- WPI is released by the Office of economic adviser under the Ministry of commerce and industry.
- The updated base year for WPI is 2011-12.
WPI food index
- It is the sub-index of WPI that measures the combination of the food articles from the primary article basket and the food products from the manufactured product basket.
