FICCI President highlights an increase in inflation

Commenting on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation numbers that was released on Tuesday, Pankaj Patel, President, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) revealed that there has been an increase in inflation, primarily due to a freeze in oil prices.

"Wholesale inflation has gone up and this is due to the firming up of oil prices and select commodities such as basic metal alloys that are mirroring the global trends. Food prices, however, continue to remain benign and this is a positive development. In fact, Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation data that was released yesterday also indicated softening of the food prices," said Patel.

"The industrial economy is still weak and there is a need to improve the flow of credit to the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors. We also need to see a further reduction in the lending rates by banks and we hope that RBI's guidance on this to the banks will be followed up in the form of further reduction in rates for companies," added Patel.

Speaking on affordability of loans, Patel indicated the need to give the industrial sector a boost through easing finance availability.

While retail loans at an affordable price will help boost consumption, there is an equal need to prop up the industrial sector through easy finance", added Patel.