Inflation At 2-Yr High Of 6.24%

The inflation rate touched a two-year high of 6.24 per cent during the week ended March 29, against 1.63 per cent in the corresponding period of 2002, on account of higher prices of primary goods and manufactured products. Interestingly, the index for fuel has remained unchanged from the previous week.

The annual point-to-point inflation, based on the wholesale price index (WPI), was estimated at 5.99 per cent during the week ended March 22.

According to provisional data released today, the wholesale price index, with 1993-94 prices as the base, rose 0.2 per cent to 171.9 during the week ended March 29 from 171.6 in the previous week. The index for the fuel, power, light and lubricants group, however, remained unchanged at 256.3.

The final wholesale price index for the week ended February 1 was revised to 169.1 from the provisional level of 168.4. The inflation rate was, therefore, revised to 5.29 per cent from the provisional level of 4.86 per cent.

For the week-ended March 29, the index for primary articles rose 0.3 per cent to 177.8 from 177.3 in the previous week on account of the increase in prices of food articles, which rose 0.3 per cent to 178.4. The non-food articles group index also rose 0.3 per cent to 181.1 during the week ended March 29 from 180.6 in the previous week.

In the food articles