Inflation drops to 4.89 pc in Apr; lowest since Nov 2009

Declining price of food items, including fruits and vegetables, pulled down inflation to nearly a three-and-a-half-year low of 4.89 per cent in April, which may present a case for further monetary policy easing.
Inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) stood at 5.96 per cent in March. In April, 2012, it was 7.50 per cent.
This is the lowest level of inflation since November, 2009 when it was 4.78 per cent.
As per official data released today, WPI inflation in the manufactured items category declined to 3.41 per cent in April from 4.07 per cent in March.
Also, inflation in food articles category, which has a 14.34 per cent share in the WPI basket, came down to 6.08 per cent. Inflation in this category was at 8.73 per cent in March.

The easing in food inflation was helped by a sharp drop in prices of vegetables. Inflation in vegetables stood at (-)9.05 per cent in April, against (-)0.95 per cent in the previous month.

The inflation in fruits declined to 0.71 per cent during the month as compared to 4.71 per cent in March.
However, the rate of price rise in onion was high at 91.69 per cent for the month of April, as against inflation rate of 94.85 per cent in the previous month.
Inflation for February was revised upwards to 7.28 per cent from 6.84 per cent as per provisional estimates.

The retail inflation, as measured by consumer price index, came down to single digit at 9.39 per cent in April after many months, indicating that inflationary expectation is on declining trend.
The RBI will take into account the declining inflationary trend while unveiling its mid-quarter policy review on June 17.