Mumbai, June 15: The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI (Wholesale Price Index), stood at -3.21 percent (provisional) for May 2020 (over May 2019) as compared to 2.79 percent during the corresponding month of the previous year.

This data comes days after the government put off the release of headline consumer price inflation numbers for April and May due to inadequate data collection on account of the coronavirus lockdown to curb the spread of the virus. Wholesale inflation had stood at 1 per cent in March, the last month whose headline figure is available.

Annual Rate of Inflation at -3.21%

The headline numbers for consumer inflation for the two months and industrial output for April were not released "in view of the continued limited transactions of products in the market" during the COVID-19 triggered lockdown and problems in collecting of adequate data, the Statistics Ministry said informed on Friday.

“This  DPIIT in a statement said the department has advised the field offices to collect price data through electronic means of the communication during the lockdown. "The response rate for April 2020 has improved substantially. The final index for the month of April 2020 will be released in next month press note in the light of the updated data received from the selected sources."

(With additional inputs from agencies)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 15, 2020 12:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).