For the first time since the new wholesale price index (WPI) series started in 1995, India’s annual rate of inflation turned negative,falling to minus 1.61% for the week ended June 6, official data showed Thursday.

The inflation rate, which was 0.13% in the previous week, had last turned negative in 1977.

The WPI for all commodities rose 0.04% primarily due to a rise in the indices for non-food articles, manufactured products, and fuel, power, light and lubricants, as per data released by the commerce and industry ministry.

While the index for primary articles declined 0.7%, that for fuel and power rose 0.7%. The index for manufactured products rose 0.1%.

The final data for the week ended April 11 showed that the revised annual inflation rate actually stood at 0.96% as against 0.26% reported earlier based on provisional figures.