No.PR-53 July 16, 2018 New Delhi Jump in WPI inflation temporary: PHD Chamber Jump in WPI Inflation is temporary and should subside in the coming weeks, said Mr. Anil Khaitan, President, PHD Chamber in a press statement issued here today. Last few weeks have observed heavy rainfall in the states of Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Gujarat which has disrupted the supply chain of few food articles, resulting in a sharp fluctuation in inflation of vegetables (8.12%), Onion (18.25%) and Potato (99.02%), said Mr. Khaitan. The WPI Inflation increased to 5.7% in June 2018 from 4.4% in May 2018. Inflation so far
| Commodities / Major Groups / Sub-Groups | June 2018 | May 2018 | April 2018 | March 2018 |
| Fuel & Power | 16.18 | 11.22 | 7.96 | 4.70 |
| Primary Articles | 5.30 | 3.16 | 2.59 | 0.87 |
| Food Articles | 1.80 | 1.60 | 0.87 | (-)0.22 |
| Vegetables | 8.12 | 2.51 | (-)0.40 | (-)2.70 |
| Manufactured products | 4.17 | 3.73 | 3.29 | 3.12 |
Source: PHD Research Bureau, compiled from Office of Economic Adviser, Government of India Inflation should not be a worry at this juncture as it is caused by disruptions in supply chain and not due to supply shortages, said Mr. Anil Khaitan. Crude oil prices have also shown severe volatility during the last few months which has caused jump in inflation to the level of 7.9% in April 2018 to 11.8% in May 2018 and 16.1% in June 2018, he added. As the monsoons are predicted good during current kharif season, so supply of foods articles should not be a problem and inflation is expected to be benign in the coming times, said Mr. Anil Khaitan. We are hopeful that headline inflation will be under the target of RBI 4 %. +- 2 percent in the coming times, said Mr. Khaitan. Ends. Koteshwar Prasad Dobhal Consultant (PR)