India is on course for a deflationary dip after data on Thursday showed the country’s wholesale price index rose by only 0.44 per cent earlier this month in spite of government efforts to stimulate the economy.

India’s inflation has been falling steadily since August when it peaked at nearly 13 per cent as commodity prices, most particularly crude oil, have cooled and the domestic economy has slowed. Thursday’s figures for the week ending March 7 were the lowest since 1995, when the current measurement began, and were a lower than expected drop on the previous week’s reading of 2.43 per cent.