Inflation based on wholesale prices eased to a three-month low of 3.58 percent in December 2017, as prices of food articles declined even as fuel cost witnessed a surge. Calculated on the basis of Wholesale Price Index, the inflation was 3.93 percent in November 2017.
As per government data released today, inflation on food articles slowed to 4.72 per cent in December, from 6.06 percent in November 2017.
Vegetable prices too witnessed some softening with annual inflation at 56.46 percent in December as against 59.80 percent in the previous month. Kitchen staple onion witnessed a whopping 197.05 percent price rise in December. Inflation in protein rich eggs, meat and fish cooled to 1.67 percent in December, while that in fruits spiked to 11.99 percent.
In the fuel and power segment, wholesale inflation rose to 9.16 percent in December, while it was 2.61 percent for manufactured items.