Current Affairs - Economy - Discussion

India’s WPI inflation rose to 1.81% in January 2026, reaching a 10-month high and registering the third consecutive monthly increase. The rise was primarily driven by higher prices of food articles, non-food items, and manufactured products such as basic metals and textiles. Food inflation turned positive, and manufacturing inflation strengthened, indicating increasing producer-level price pressures. However, fuel and power remained in deflation, which helped moderate the overall surge. While WPI reflects wholesale-level price changes, the Reserve Bank of India mainly targets CPI inflation for monetary policy decisions, making this divergence significant for economic analysis.