We now have both retail and wholesale inflation numbers for February. While the Consumer Price Index (CPI) grew at 5.1% in February, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) rose by just 0.2%. To be sure, the CPI and WPI baskets are very different in composition, and the difference in the two inflation measures is better understood as inflation facing consumers and producers, rather than inflation of similar commodities in the retail and wholesale markets. The CPI basket, for example, has a lot of services consumed by households, while the WPI one includes a lot of inputs used in industries. Having said this, what is the larger takeaway from the latest inflation numbers? Here are three charts which try and answer this question.
