| Inflation at 11-month high |
| BS Reporter / New Delhi March 21, 2008 |
| In a sudden spurt, which an economist described as a "nasty surprise", the annual inflation rate jumped to an 11-month high of 5.92 per cent for the week-ended March 8, setting off alarm bells and prompting expectations of swift fiscal policy measures to contain the price rise. The annual inflation rate, based on the wholesale price index (WPI), rose to this new level from 5.11 per cent for the week ended March 1 and 5.02 per cent in the week before that. Inflation had risen to 6.51 per cent in the same period last year. The latest spurt has been driven by an across-the-board increase in prices of food articles, fuels and manufactured products. But a sharp rise in basic metals has led the rise. The index for the |
