WEB EXCLUSIVE: Survey shows inflation in brighter light

The pre-Budget Economic Survey for 20101-11, tabled in Parliament today, has presented a much more benign face of India's inflation by comparing it with a clutch of other countries, mostly emerging economies.

A comparison of India's food inflation rate with those prevailing in 14 countries shows that at 5.4% in 2010, the price rise for food items in India was higher than only one country i.e. the Philippines. In 2009, India's food inflation rate was 17.6% while the Philippines had experienced a food inflation rate of 2.2%.

Significantly, the food inflation rate in China was estimated at 11.7% in 2010, compared to 3.2% in the previous year, and for Pakistan, food inflation was much higher at 20.1% in 2010, up from 7.5% the previous year.

The fourteen countries, covered in the survey, are Argentina, Brazil, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia,l Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Vietnam and Uruguay. 

Apart from the Philippines and India, all other countries had recorded higher food inflation rates in 2010 (the figures for 2009 are in brackets) at 15.8% (4.7%) for Argentina, 9.2% (3.3%) for Brazil, 11.7% (3.2%) for China, 21.9% (17.4%) for Egypt, 13.2% (4.7%) for Indonesia, 12.1% (6.6%) for Iran, 20.1% (7.5%) for Pakistan, 3.2% (2.2%) for the Philippines, 6.6% (0.8%) for Thailand, 7% (9.3%) for Turkey, 13.1% (7.6%) for Ukraine and 10.1% (4.6%) for Uruguay. Food inflation data for Russia and Vietnam were not available.

In respect of general inflation, India's record was far less impressive, the Survey's table shows. Its inflation rate of 8.3% for 2010 was higher than six countries, namely Brazil (5.9%), China (5.1%), Indonesia (7%), the Philippines (3%), Thailand (3%), Turkey (6.4%) and Uruguay (6.9%).  General inflation were higher than India in the following countries: Argentina (11%), Egypt (11.6%), Iran (12.5%), Pakistan (15.5%), Russia (8.8%), Ukraine (9.1%) and Vietnam (11.8%).

In 2009, India's performance on the general inflation front was far worse in comparison with these 14 countries. It was the highest among them all at 13.5%, followed by Ukraine (12.3%), Egypt (10.7%), Pakistan (10.5%), Russia (8.8%), Iran (7.4%), Argentina (7.1%), Turkey and Vietnam (both at 6.5%), Urguay (5.9%), Brazil and the Philippines (both at 4.3%), Thailand (3.5%), Indonesia (2.8%) and China (0.6%).