Inflation at 4.78% on cheaper food

The rate of inflation for the week ended March 13 fell 13 basis points to 4.78 per cent. Inflation was at 4.91 per cent in the previous week and at 6 per cent during the corresponding period last year.

The fall was driven by cheaper fruits, vegetables and edible oils. The wholesale price index (WPI), however, rose 0.1 per cent to 179.7 even as fuel prices remained unchanged. The index was at 171.5 during the same period last year.

Ashok Lahiri, economic adviser to the government, said on Thursday he expected the inflation rate to fall below 5 per cent by the end of March and settle around 4.7 per cent.

The government had revised the rate of inflation upwards by 42 basis points to 6.55 per cent for the week ended January 17, against the provisional level of 6.13 per cent. The final WPI stood corrected at 178.9 during the third week of January, compared with the provisional figure of 178.2.

Even as mineral prices rose, the index of primary articles' group fell 0.2 per cent to 181.2 because of cheaper food and non-food articles. The index was at 178.4 during the corresponding period last year.

Food articles' group index fell by 0.3 per cent to 178.7 due to lower prices of chicken (14 per cent), fruits and vegetables (5 per cent), tea and eggs (3 per cent each), maize (2 per cent) and gram, condiments and spices, and arhar (1 per cent each).

Prices, however, were up for fish-marine and milk (4 per cent each) and mutton and jowar (1 per cent each).The index of non-food articles' group declined marginally by 0.1 per cent to 192.5, owing to cheaper niger seed (7 per cent), gingelly seed (4 per cent), safflower, fodder and raw silk (2 per cent each) and raw tobacco, copra and raw jute (1 per cent each).

The food products' group index declined 0.1 per cent to 171.3 points due to lower prices for rice bran oil (6 per cent), solvent extracted groundnut oil and un-blended black tea leaf (3 per cent each), rape and mustard oil (2 per cent), and sugar (1 per cent).

But prices rose for skimmed milk powder (14 per cent), bread and bun (6 per cent), and coconut oil, gingelly oil, baby food, sunflower oil and sooji-rawa (1 per cent each).

The minerals' group index was up 0.1 per cent to 116.7 due to a 6 per cent price hike in stealite and a 5 per cent increase in chromite prices, even as there was a 24 per cent decline in the price of magnetite and 1 per cent for barytes. The index of fuel, power, light and lubricants' group stood unchanged for the sixth consecutive week at 262.3; it was at 252.7 during the year-ago period.

Heavy-weighted manufactured products' group index was up by 0.2 per cent to 160.7 points even as prices fell for food products, while all other commodities like textiles, chemical products, non-metallic minerals, basic metals, machinery and transport equipment became costlier. The index was 151 points in the previous year period.

The index of textiles' group increased by 0.1 per cent to 139.4 points due to costlier staple fibre (three per cent) and acrylic yarn (two per cent), though polyester yarn price was down by two per cent.

Chemicals and chemical products' group index was up by 0.1 per cent to 178.7 points due to five per cent price hike in PVC resins and one per cent in monocrotophos and the index of non-metallic mineral products' group rose by 0.4 per cent to 152.2 points owing to two per cent price rise in bottles.

The index of machinery and machine tools' group rose by 0.1 per cent to 133.3 points on account of costlier tractor components and accessories (eight per cent) and air and gas compressors (one per cent).