The Hindu Business Line : Cheaper food, chemicals peg inflation down

THE annual wholesale price index-based inflation rose 3.08 per cent during the week ended August 20, slowing from the previous week's annual rise of 3.13 per cent. The slowdown was largely on account of a fall in prices of food and chemical products, according to the data released here on Friday by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The wholesale price index (WPI) during the latest reported week was up at 194.3 points, from 188.5 points during the corresponding week a year ago, as all the major indices — the primary articles, fuel and manufactured products group — moved upwards. The inflation rate was at 8.46 per cent during the corresponding week of the previous year.

On a disaggregated basis, the Primary Articles' group index rose 0.2 per cent to 191.3 points as food articles became costlier, while non-food prices declined. The Fuel, Power, Light and Lubricants group index rose marginally to 304 points due to one per cent hike in furnace oil prices. The heavyweight Manufactured Products' group index was up 0.1 per cent to 170.7 points as prices of food, tobacco, textiles, non-metallic mineral, basic metals, machinery and transport equipment went up.

Among the Primary Articles' group, the index for Food Articles' group was up by 0.4 per cent to 193.2 points due to rise in prices of vegetables (five per cent), condiments and spices (two per cent) and gram (one per cent). However, prices fell for bajra, ragi and tea (two per cent each) and milk (one per cent). The Non-Food Articles' group index declined by 0.3 per cent to 181.7 points owing to lower prices of raw rubber (six per cent), skins (three per cent), castor seed, copra and cotton seed (two per cent each) and raw silk and raw tobacco (one per cent each). There was an increase in prices of fodder (four per cent), raw jute (three per cent) and safflower and niger seed (two per cent).

Among the Manufactured Products' group index, a two per cent increase in oil cakes prices pushed up the food articles' group index by 0.2 per cent to 177 points, even as rice bran oil became cheaper by one per cent. A 10 per cent spurt in prices of zarda pushed up the beverages and tobacco products' group index by 0.3 per cent to 222.9 points. Textiles group index was up by 0.2 per cent to 128.7 points due to higher prices of cotton yarn-hanks (four per cent) and viscose filament yarn (one per cent). But prices declined for texturised yarn (five per cent) and cotton yarn-cones (one per cent).

The Chemicals and Chemical Products' group index was down by 0.1 per cent to 186.1 points owing to lower prices of ampicillin trihydrate (eight per cent), bopp film (five per cent) and polystyrene (four per cent). A marginal increase in cement prices pushed up the index for non-metallic mineral products' by 0.1 per cent to 167 points. The base metals alloys and metal products' index rose by 0.2 per cent to 220.4 points.

A six per cent increase in electrical relays pushed up the machinery and machine tools' group index by 0.1 per cent to 146.8 points. A one per cent hike in diesel bus chassis pushed up the transport equipment and parts group index by 0.1 per cent to 159.8 points.

The Government also revised upward the inflation figure to 4.30 per cent for the week ended June 25 from the provisional 4.14 per cent while the WPI stood corrected at 194.2 points as against the earlier estimate of 193.9 points.

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