A fall in the prices of manufactured products pushed the annual rate of inflation further, to touch a new low of 1.13 per cent at the end of the fifth week of 2002 as against 8.62 per cent in the corresponding period last year. For the week ended February 2, the point-to-point price change based on the wholesale price index (WPI) fell by 0.13 per cent from the previous week's level of 1.26 per cent.
This was despite an increase in the prices of primary items, even as fuel prices remained firm. This was for the fourth straight week in 2002 that inflation had dipped. The WPI, however, stood unchanged at the previous week