Consumer Price Index marginally up at 107 points in May

Select food items like milk, tobacco, fuel and clothing became more expensive in May, leading to a marginal rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to 107 points during the month.

The CPI, based on retail prices, stood at 106 points in April.

At the all-India level, the index for milk rose 1.8 per cent to 112 points in May vis-a-vis April. Similarly, the indices for pan, tobacco and intoxicants went up by 1.75 per cent in May to 116 points, while oil and fats went up marginally to 114 points.

There was also a 1.72 per cent rise in the retail prices of condiments and spices to 118 points, while non-alcoholic beverages also rose almost 1 per cent to 109 points. However, vegetable prices fell by over 1 per cent to 94 points.

Meanwhile, the indices for a number of major items — cereals, pulses, protein-based items and fruits — remained stable during May.

Overall, the ‘food, beverages and tobacco’ segment of the CPI stood at 107 points in May, the same level as in April.

While the CPI, according to the new series, increased to 107 points in May this year from a base of 100 in 2010, the government will wait “till the series gets stabilised” and adequate timely receipt of price data is achieved before it begins to release retail inflation figures based on the index from next year.

As per data released by the government today, the indices for rural and urban consumers stood at 109 and 105 points, respectively.

In April, the general indices for rural, urban and combined consumers had stood at 108, 105 and 106 points, respectively.

Meanwhile, the overall March numbers have been maintained at the provisional estimate of 106 points.

These consumer indices have been released for five major groups — food, beverages and tobacco; fuel and light; housing; clothing, bedding and footwear; and miscellaneous items.

‘Fuel and light’ was up 1.85 per cent at 110 points in May against 108 in April. ‘Clothing, bedding and footwear’ stood at 114 points on an all-India basis during the month under review against 112 in April, an increase of almost 1.8 per cent.

The CPI for miscellaneous items was pegged at 107 points on a countrywide basis in May, up marginally from 106 in April. The index for ‘Housing’ will become effective over the next few months.

The new CPI was introduced to reflect the actual movement of prices at the micro-level and help policymakers like the RBI in better framing of decisions.

According to experts, with the passage of the time, the new index would take over Wholesale Price Index (WPI) as the main benchmark to measure inflation.

Inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index, was measured at 9.06 per cent in May.

During the unveiling of the new index earlier this year, the Government had said it would continue the practice of giving the figures in the present form without quoting the inflation rate for one year.

This would be “till the series gets stabilised” and adequate and timely receipt of price data is achieved.

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