The Hindu Business Line : Inflation declines on cheaper food items, fuel

THE annual wholesale price-based inflation continued with its declining trend and fell to 6.73 per cent for the week ended December 11, from 7.02 per cent during the previous week.

The year-on-year inflation was down 0.29 per cent to a 21-week low during the latest reported week, mainly due to cheaper food items and fuels, according to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry here today.

The index of Primary Articles' group was down 1 per cent to 186 points due to cheaper food and non-food items. The Fuel, Power, Light and Lubricants' group index fell by 0.1 per cent to 288.8 points due to 3 per cent decline in the price of furnace oil and naphtha (1 per cent).

The index of Manufactured Products rose marginally by 0.1 per cent to 167.3 points on account of costlier food items, chemicals, non-metallic minerals and machinery.

Among the Primary Articles' group, the Food Articles' group index fell by 1.3 per cent to 185.4 points due to lower prices of vegetables (10 per cent), fish marine (7 per cent), ragi and fish-inland (2 per cent each) and fruits, jowar and tea (1 per cent each), even as urad and bajra prices were up by 1 per cent.

The index of Non-Food Articles' group declined by 0.2 per cent to 180.7 points owing to lower prices of niger seed and logs and timber (4 per cent each), raw cotton (3 per cent) and castor seed (1 per cent). Prices, however, rose for raw rubber (6 per cent), soyabean (4 per cent), raw wool (3 per cent), raw jute (2 per cent) and tobacco and groundnut seed (1 per cent each).

Among the heavy-weight Manufactured Products' group, the Food Products' group index rose by 0.1 per cent to 175.3 points due to higher prices of salt (4 per cent) and sugar, khandsari and oil cakes (1 per cent each).

Prices, however, fell for rice bran oil and cottonseed oil (7 per cent each), solvent extracted groundnut oil (6 per cent), imported edible oil and gur (3 per cent each), groundnut oil, rape, mustard and coconut oil (2 per cent each) and unrefined oil (1 per cent). The index for Chemicals and Chemical Products' group was up by 0.1 per cent to 182 points owing to higher prices of caustic soda and pesticides (1 per cent each), but liquid chlorine became cheaper by 2 per cent.

A one per cent rise in the prices of cement pushed up the Non-metallic Mineral Products' group index by 0.3 per cent to 156.2 points. The base metals alloys and metal products group index fell by 0.1 per cent to 206.3 points due to lower prices of other iron steel, MS bars and rounds and steel sheets, plates and stripes (1 per cent each). The index for Machinery and Machine Tools' group rose by 0.1 per cent to 142.3 points due to a 2 per cent hike in the prices of tractors.

According to the data, the Government revised upwards inflation to 7.21 per cent for the week ended October 16, as compared to the provisional level of 7.10 per cent.

The final WPI stood corrected at 188.8 points in mid-October as against the provisional figure of 188.6 points.

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