The rate of inflation for the week ended October 12 fell another 0.19 per cent to 2.83 per cent, mainly due to the southward movement of prices of primary items.
The point-to-point price change as measured by the wholesale price index (WPI) ducked for the fourth week to less than 3 per cent from 3.02 per cent in the previous week and 3.04 per cent a year ago even as the prices of fuel and manufactured products stood unchanged.
The WPI, however, fell marginally by 0.1 per cent to 167.2 from 167.3 in the previous month and 162.6 a year ago.
The final WPI for the week ended August 17 was revised at 167 as against the provisional figure of 166.9, while the final inflation was 3.47 per cent as compared to the provisional level of 3.41 per cent.
Primary articles became cheaper by 0.1 per cent to 174.9 owing to a fall in the prices of food and non-food articles and minerals. The index was 175.1 in the previous week and 171.2 a year ago.
Prices of food articles dipped because prices fell for coffee (5 per cent), beef and buffalo meat (3 per cent), jowar and poultry chicken (2 per cent each) and maize, barley, masur, urad, eggs, fish-marine and spices (1 per cent each), while there was a 3 per cent price hike for tea.
Non-food articles became cheaper because of a drop in the prices of niger seed (6 per cent), raw silk (4 per cent), cotton seed (3 per cent) and raw cotton, tobacco and kardi seed (1 per cent each) and prices rose for mesta (29 per cent), gingelly seed and fodder (2 per cent) and linseed (1 per cent).
Minerals became cheaper by nearly 1 per cent because prices fell for ochre (46 per cent), limeclay (8 per cent) and dolomite (5 per cent), amid costly barytes (16 per cent), magnesite (4 per cent) and silica sand (1 per cent).
The fuel, power, light and lubricants
