The Hindu Business Line : Inflation rate drops on cheaper agri items

New Delhi, Oct. 10 The annual Wholesale Price Index-based inflation rose 11.80 per cent during the week ended September 27, below the previous week’s annual rise of 11.99 per cent, data release by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed on Friday. Inflation during the corresponding period the previous year was, however, significantly lower at 3.36 per cent.

Primary Articles

During the latest reported week, the slide in the year-on-year inflation rate was on account of lower inflation among primary articles such as maize, gram, raw wool and cotton, tomatoes and onions, and manufactured products including cotton yarn, polyester staple fibre, groundnut and gingelly oil, pipes and tubes and cement. The official WPI for ‘All Commodities’ for the latest week declined by 0.1 per cent to 240.7 points from 241.0 points for the previous week, according to the data.

On a disaggregated basis, in case of the ‘Primary Articles’ group, the annual point-to-point inflation declined to 11.17 per cent, as compared to 11.29 per cent reported last week.

Maize, bajra cheaper

Out of a total of 98 articles, 17 articles have shown a decline in inflation levels during the current week as compared to the previous reported week. These included among others, bajra, maize, masur, gram, moong, raw wool and cotton, tomatoes, onions, dry chillies, black pepper, okara and sapota. Another 57 articles have shown no increase in prices.

Fuel group firm

In the ‘Fuel, Power, Light and Lubricants’ group, the rate of inflation remained unchanged at 16.52 per cent. Inflation levels in case of all the 19 commodities remained unchanged in the current week.

In the ‘Manufactured Products’ group index, the rate of inflation in the current week declined to 10.33 per cent, as compared to 10.55 per cent in previous week. Out of 318 commodities, 295 have shown no increase in prices over the last week.

Yarn drops

In the case of 10 commodities, there has been a decline in prices. These commodities included cotton yarn, polyester staple fibre, enamelled copper wire, groundnut and gingelly oil, groundnut cake, pipes and tubes and cement. Only 13 products, particularly rice bran, mustard, cottonseed and imported edible oils, lead and zinc ingots, calcium ammonium nitrate, ointment and tablets other than vitamins and penicillin witnessed an increase in prices.

Essential commodities

According to a Finance Ministry statement, inflation of 30 essential commodities marginally increased to 7.74 per cent as on the latest reported week, from 7.70 per cent reported in the earlier week. The final WPI for the week ended August 2 stood revised at 241.4 points, as compared to (240.4 points) and annual rate of inflation based on final index, calculated on point to point basis, stood at 12.91 per cent as compared to the provisional estimate of 12.44 per cent.

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