The Hindu Business Line : Lower food prices keep inflation unchanged

The annual wholesale price index-based inflation rose 5.16 per cent during the week ended October 7, matching the previous week's annual rise. The year-on-year inflation rate was unchanged as lower food prices during the week were neutralised by higher fuel and manufactured product prices, Government data showed on Friday.

Fuel dear

During the latest reported week, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for all commodities ended at 207.9 points. The index was at 197.7 points during the corresponding week a year ago. The annual inflation rate was at 4.88 per cent during the corresponding week of the previous year.

On a disaggregated basis, the Primary Articles' group index fell 0.2 per cent to 211.9 points. The index was at 197.1 points during the corresponding week a year ago. The Fuel, Power, Light and Lubricants group index rose 0.2 per cent to 329.5 points due to a one per cent increase in electricity prices, even as furnace oil became cheaper by one per cent. The index was at 313.1 points during the same period a year ago. The Manufactured Products group index rose 0.1 per cent to 179.4 points due to rise in prices of beverages, tobacco, textiles, non-metallic mineral, base metals, machinery and transport parts. The index was at 172.2 points a year ago.

Chicken costly

Among the Primary Articles' group, the index for Food Articles declined marginally to 215.6 points due to lower prices of fish-marine (6 per cent), mutton (4 per cent), bajra (3 per cent), ragi and maize (1 per cent each). However, prices rose for poultry chicken (3 per cent), moong, jowar, arhar and gram (2 per cent each), fish-inland and barley (1 per cent each).

The Non-Food Articles group index fell 0.9 per cent to 185.6 points due to cheaper logs and timber (12 per cent), sunflower (9 per cent), safflower, rape and mustard seed (2 per cent each) and raw silk and soyabean (1 per cent each). But, prices moved up for groundnut seed, gingelly seed, copra and castor seed (1 per cent each).

Among the Manufactured Products' group, the Food Products' group index declined by 0.2 per cent to 182.5 points due to lower prices of oil cakes (4 per cent), gur and hydrogenated vanaspati (1 per cent each).

Prices shot up for sooji and bran (5 per cent each), maida (4 per cent), coconut oil, salt and atta (3 per cent each), imported edible oil (2 per cent) and sunflower oil, groundnut oil, unrefined oil and gingelly oil (1 per cent each).

Pig iron cheap

The Base Metals Alloys and Metal Products group index rose by 0.1 per cent to 236.1 points owing to higher prices of nickel alloy (10 per cent), MS bars and rounds (2 per cent), other iron steel, lead ingots, zinc and zinc ingots (1 per cent each), while pig iron and basic pig iron became cheaper by one per cent each. A 12 per cent increase in switchgears prices pushed up the Machinery and Machine Tools group index by 0.3 per cent to 154.7 points.

The Transport Equipment and Parts group index rose 0.4 per cent to 163.5 points due to an eight per cent increase in prices of automobile spare parts.

The Government revised the final inflation figure to 5.07 per cent for the week ended August 12 from the provisional 4.92 per cent while the WPI stood corrected at 205 points from the earlier estimate of 204.7 points.