WPI inflation up 3.55% y-o-y in July

Wholesale food prices last month rose 11.82% year-on-year, compared with a provisional 8.18% gain in June

India's wholesale prices rose at a faster-than-expected pace in July, gaining 3.55% from a year earlier on higher food prices, government data showed on Tuesday.

The data compared with a 2.55% annual rise forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. In June, prices rose a provisional 1.62%.

After rising for the first time in April after 17 straight months of contraction, WPI inflation has consistently been pushed up by food inflation, which has steadily risen since February. It rose by 11.82 % in July after rising 8.18 % in June.

Food items, the biggest component of the Consumer Price Index had also been responsible for high rates of retail inflation, which rose to a 6.07 % peak in July rising by 7.38 % in June as against 7.20 % in May.