<div>Deflationary pressure continued for the sixth month in a row with inflation dropping to a new low of (-)2.65 per cent in April, mainly on account of decline in prices of fuel and manufactured items even as food prices increased.</div><div> </div><div>Inflation, as measured on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), has been in the negative zone since November, 2014. In April last year, it was 5.55 per cent.</div><div> </div><div>The deflationary trend has bolstered the case for a rate cut by the Reserve Bank, as retail inflation has also eased and industrial production is down, experts said. Industrial output had slowed to 5-month low of 2.1 per cent in March.</div><div> </div><div>Inflation was (-)2.33 per cent in March, (-)2.17 per cent in February, (-)0.95 per cent in January, (-)0.50 per cent in December and (-) 0.17 per cent in November.</div><div> </div><div>In April this year, the manufactured products segment witnessed deflation for the second consecutive month as prices dropped to a record low of (-)0.52 per cent.</div><div> </div><div>Inflation in food articles category stood at 5.73 per cent, from 6.31 per cent in March. For fuel and power, it was (-)13.03 per cent in April.</div><div> </div><div>Potato prices saw the steepest fall at (-)41.14 per cent in April. For vegetables, the decline was (-)1.32 per cent.</div><div><br>However, inflation in pulses was at 15.38 per cent, and for egg, meat and fish at 4.01 per cent during the month.</div><div> </div><div>The February WPI inflation data has been revised downwards to (-)2.17 per cent as against the provisional estimate of (-)2.06 per cent.</div><div> </div><div>The Consumer Price Index based inflation data, released earlier this week, showed retail inflation fell to a 4-month low of 4.87 per cent in April on account of easing food prices.</div><div> </div><div>ICRA Senior Economist Aditi Nayar said: “The data reinforces our expectation of a high probability of 0.25 per cent rate cut in June 2 RBI policy.”</div><div> </div><div>(Reuters)</div>
