Inflation Rate Climbs To 5.42 Per Cent

After a weeks respite, the annual rate of inflation rose marginally to 5.42 per cent for the week ended February 7.

The inflation, based on the wholesale price index (WPI), rose by 0.13 percentage points to 5.42 per cent (provisional) from 5.29 per cent (p) the week before and 7.83 per cent in the corresponding week last year.

The fall, despite a marginal decline in the index for all commodities during the week, was due to squaring off of 0.20 percentage fall in inflation during the corresponding week last year.

The index for all commodities (base:1981-82=100) during the week stood at 338.4 (p) compared to 338.5 (p) in the previous week.

 

Inflation based on final index stood at 4.3 per cent for the week ended December 13 (the latest available), as against 3.9 per cent based on the provisional index.

The final index for all commodities for the week was 333.7 compared to the index of 332.5 on the provisional index.

Provisional WPI figures, released by the industry ministry, come after a lag of two weeks, while final figures come after eight weeks.

The latest week saw the prices of primary and manufactured food items improving for the third week on a trot after skyrocketing for most of December and January.

The increase in food items, due to unusual behaviour of the south-west monsoon and severe cold wave in the north, had triggered off the increase in inflation after touching an 11-year low.

As against inflation based on WPI, the rate of increase in price rise based on consumer price index for industrial workers (CPI-IW), which is representative of the retail prices, stood at 6.3 per cent in December compared to 4.9 per cent in the previous month.

Among the major components of WPI, the rate of increase in prices during the year were; cereals (-0.63 per cent), pulses (11.95 per cent), vegetables (7.71 per cent), oil seeds (9.52 per cent), mineral oils (11.85 per cent), electricity (8.03 per cent), dairy products (3.90 per cent), grain mill products (-3.31 per cent), sugar, khandsari & gur (22.95 per cent), edible oils (-0.73 per cent), oil cakes (-5.09 per cent), textiles (3.35 per cent).

, fertilisers (6.12 per cent), cement (-5.43 per cent), iron and steel (3.53 per cent).

During the week, items which witnessed major price fluctuations were; lime (36 per cent), khandsari (7 per cent), maida and masur (6 per cent each), steatite (-22 per cent) and electric wires and rubber insulated & other cables (-8 per cent).