Inflation Rate Dips To 6.35%, Wpi At 323.4

The annual rate of inflation continued its slide for the seventh week in a stretch to touch 6.35 per cent for the week ending April 26.

Inflation based on provisional wholesale price index (WPI) fell by 0.19 percentage points to 6.35 per cent from 6.54 per cent despite a 0.3 per cent increase in WPI for all commodities (base 1981-82=100) to 323.4 for the week under review from 322.5 for the previous week.

Compared to this, inflation was around 4.97 per cent during the corresponding week in April last year.

Inflation has been steadily moving downwards ever since it touched a 63-week high of eight per cent in the second week of February mainly due to easing of prices of food articles.

 

In the last seven weeks alone, inflation has come down by 1.43 percentage points falling from 7.78 per cent on March eight to the current 6.35 per cent.

The annual inflation rate based on the final index for the week ending March 1, 1997, stood at 7.3 per cent as against 7.8 per cent for the week based on provisional index.

Among three major groups, primary articles, manufactured products and fuel, power, light and lubricants group had the maximum increase in prices over last year at 16.40 per cent.

Price rise in primary articles was lower at 6.78 per cent, while that of manufactured products was 4.60 per cent. This is the 102nd consecutive week that the inflation has maintained single digit levels.

After touching single digits in June 1995, inflation came down considerably to touch a historic low of 4.2 per cent in June 1996. However, it started climbing up again after the petroleum price hike in the first week of July 1996.

Interestingly, the inflation based on consumer price index (CPI), which is more reflective of the price movements to the consumer, is still hovering in double digits at 10 per cent during March 1997 compared to 7.43 per cent during the same month based on WPI. During the week, prices of lathes, gur, steel wire, steel files, gram, rice bran oil, jowar, barley, moong, masur, milk, declined substantially.

While that of poultry chicken, raw jute, mesta, castor seed and fodder went up.

A group-wise movement shows that the index for the major primary articles' group increased by 0.3 per cent in the reference week to 336.3 from 335.4 for the last week.

Under primary articles, the index for food articles group increased by 0.4 per cent to 386.6 from 384.9 for the previous week.

Among food articles, prices of gram (5 per cent), jowar, barley (4 per cent each), moong, masur, milk (3 per cent each), bajra, fish (2 per cent each) and ragi, arhar, urad and condiments and spices (1 per cent each) moved up, while prices of poultry chicken (-4 per cent), wheat (-2 per cent) and eggs (-1 per cent) declined.

The index for non-food articles group remained unchanged at previous week's level of 334.8. However, prices of raw cotton and gingelly seed (2 per cent each) and rape and mustard seed (1 per cent) went up while prices of raw jute (-4 per cent), mesta, castor seed and fodder (-3 per cent each), linseed (2 per cent) and sunflower (-1 per cent) eased.

The index for fuel, power, light and lubricants group rose by 0.1 per cent in the reference week to 343.5 from 343 due to higher prices of lubricants (3 per cent).

The index for textiles group declined by 0.2 per cent to 306.7 from 307.2 for the previous week due to lower prices of jute hemp and mesta textiles (-2 per cent).