Driven by softening prices of fuel and food items, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation cooled to a five-year low of 1.77 per cent in October raising hopes of rate cut by the RBI next month to boost economic growth.
The decline in WPI-based inflation from 2.38 per cent in September follows fall in retail inflation which hit a record low of 5.52 per cent in October. The WPI inflation, which fell for the fifth month in a row, was at 7.24 per cent in October 2013. As per the official data released on Friday, food inflation fell to a nearly two-and-half-year low of 2.7 per cent. Food inflation is on decline since May.