The Hindu Business Line : Inflation up on costlier food items, fuel products

Breaching the upper range of RBI's inflation estimate for the current fiscal, the annual wholesale price index-based inflation rose 5.58 per cent during the week ended December 30, higher than the previous week's annual rise of 5.48 per cent.

Dearer primary articles

The increase in the year-on-year inflation rate was largely due to a rise in prices of food articles and some fuel products, Government data showed on Friday. The WPI (base 1993-94), on which the inflation data is based, rose 0.05 per cent to 208.1 points during the week ended December 30, from 208 points during the previous week. The index was at 197.1 points during the corresponding week last year.

On a disaggregated basis, the Primary Articles' group ended the latest reported week at 212.5 points, as against 194.8 points a year ago. The Fuel, Power, Light and Lubricants' group ended the latest week at 321.9 points, as against 311.1 points during the corresponding week a year ago. The Manufactured Products' group was at 181.2 points during the week, as against 172.5 points a year ago.

Among the Primary Articles' group, prices of food articles such as poultry chicken, fish marine and arhar increased by nine, eight and two per cent respectively. However, prices of eggs dipped by eight per cent and gram by three per cent.

Timber turns cheap

In the non-food category, prices of logs and timber, fodder, safflower, castor seed declined by seven, three, two and one per cent respectively, while prices of cottonseed moved up two per cent.

Among the Fuel, Power, Light and Lubricants' group, prices of furnace oil rose by two per cent and naphtha by one per cent. However, bitumen prices fell by two per cent. Among the Manufactured Products' group, prices of imported edible oil, gingelly oil, groundnut oil and oil cakes moved up three, two, two and one per cent respectively.

Inflation was revised to 5.45 per cent for the week ended November 4 from the provisional estimate of 5.30 per cent.

This follows revision in the wholesale price index to 209.1 points against 208.8 points, estimated provisionally earlier.