India's June wholesale prices fall for first time in 19 months

NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India's wholesale price index fell 0.13% year-on-year in June, its first fall in 19 months, primarily due to the decline in prices of food items, basic metals, mineral oils and energy, government data showed on Monday.

Wholesale prices had risen 0.39% in May from a year earlier.

Economists polled by Reuters had projected wholesale price index to rise 0.52%.

"The WPI surprisingly reverted to a year-on-year deflation in June after a gap of 19 months ... This was largely led by prices of food items," said Rahul Agrawal, economist, ICRA.

Agrawal expects the print to remain in the deflationary territory in July.

KEY NUMBERS

* Wholesale food prices fell 0.26% year-on-year, compared with a 1.72% increase in May.

* Vegetable prices in June fell 22.65% year-on-year from a 21.62% fall in May.

* Prices of manufactured products edged down 0.07% year-on-year, compared with a flat annual reading in May.

* Fuel and power prices fell 2.52% year-on-year, as against an increase of 0.69% in May.

(Reporting by Nikunj Ohri and Manoj Kumar; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

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