Inflation continues to increase at 6.16%

The annual rate of inflation continued to remain at over 6 per cent, touching a 24-week high of 6.16 per cent, against 6.09 per cent for the week ending July 3, mainly on account of an 11 per cent increase in prices of aviation turbine fuel and manufactured items, including edible oils.

The point-to-point inflation was up 0.07 per cent even as the prices of food articles fell, mainly due to cheaper fruits and vegetables, whose prices fell by 6 per cent. The index was 5.15 per cent during the corresponding week a year ago.

The official wholesale price index (WPI) for the week ending July 3 was down by 0.2 per cent to 184.4 points from 184.7 in the previous week.

The government also revised upwards the annual rate of inflation to 4.60 per cent for the week ending May 8, from the provisional level of 4.2 per cent. The final WPI stood corrected at 181.8 points during the beginning of the second week of May against 181.1 points.

The index of mass consumption primary articles fell by 0.6 per cent to 185.2 points due to cheaper food articles, even as non-food articles' prices, such as castor seed, groundnut seed, fodder, raw rubber, tobacco and rapeseed and mustard seed shot up during the week under consideration.

The food articles' group index plummeted by over 1 per cent to 183.4 points due to the lower prices of vegetables and fruits (6 per cent), tea (3 per cent) and bajra (1 per cent).

However, prices rose for barley (3 per cent), fish-inland, and condiments and spices (2 per cent each) and fish-marine, moong, urad and masur (1 per cent each).

The index for non-food articles' group was up 0.5 per cent to 192.6 points due to costlier castor seed (3 per cent), safflower and groundnut seed (2 per cent each) and fodder, raw rubber, raw tobacco and rapeseed and mustard seed (1 per cent each), even as gingelly seed became cheaper by 1 per cent.

The fuel, power, light and lubricants' group index declined by 0.1 per cent to 274.9 points from 275.2 points the previous week due to a 1 per cent dip in the price of naphtha and furnace oil, even as aviation turbine fuel became costlier. The index was 249.3 points during the previous year.

The index of the heavy-weighted manufactured products' group was up by 0.1 per cent to 164 points due to costlier food products, beverages, tobacco, textiles, chemicals, basic metals and transport equipment.