Wholesale inflation rose to 2.59% in December 2019, compared to 0.58% in November that year, government data released on Tuesday showed. Prices of all primary articles rose by 11.46%, and those of food articles by 13.24%.
Prices of onions increased by a whopping 455.83%, compared to December 2018. Wholesale prices of vegetables showed the second highest increase at 69.69%. On Monday, government data had shown that retail prices of vegetables had risen by 60.5%.
On the other hand, prices of liquefied petroleum gas dropped by as much as 14.69% year-on-year. Petrol became costlier by 4.43%, and high speed diesel by 0.11%.
Prices of manufactured products as a whole declined by 0.25%, but prices of manufacture of food products rose 6.89%, and manufacture of vegetable and animal oils and fats 9.66%.
The Indian economy recorded a growth rate of just 4.5% for the July-September 2019 quarter, the lowest in six years. The economy has been hit by weak consumption and thousands of job cuts. Last week, the government said the Gross Domestic Product growth rate for 2019-’20 would be 5%, the lowest in 11 years.
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