Inflation rises to 40-month high of 7%

Minerals41.5 a-Metallic Minerals47.1 b-Other Minerals-2.3 OTHERS CONTRIBUTED TOO Primary articles8.9 Vegetable prices11.4 Fuel group 6.68 Manufactured products 6.4 Manufactured food products8.5 Edible oil 21.1 Cement, slate and graphite products 12.2  A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Prices is also likely to be held shortly.  The latest surge is partly on account of a jump in metallic mineral prices. The primary articles sub-index, which has a weight of 22.02 per cent in the WPI, rose 1.8 per cent over the previous week on account of a steep 38.2 per cent rise in metallic minerals, a 4.9 per cent surge in vegetable prices and a 1 per cent increase in oilseeds. 
 

ASIA ALSO SUFFERS
Country	Feb, 07	Feb, 08
China	2.7	8.7
Malaysia	3.1	2.7
Pakistan	7.4	11.3
Singapore	0.6	6.5
Thailand	2.3	5.4
Russia	7.6	12.7
Indonesia	6.3	7.4
Hong Kong	0.8	6.3
South Korea	2.2	3.6
Taiwan	-2.2	3.9

 Metallic minerals refer to commodities like iron ore, manganese ore, bauxite and chromite.  The manufactured products sub-index, with a weight of 63.75 per cent in the WPI, rose 0.2 per cent over the previous week due to higher prices of food products, which rose 0.6 per cent, non-metallic mineral products (up 0.9 per cent) and basic metals, alloys and metal products (up 0.4 per cent).   Prices of some manufactured items like textiles fell 0.2 per cent, while primary products like fruit also fell 1 per cent.

Crucially, the year-on-year increase in primary product prices is 9 per cent; it is 6.4 per cent in manufactured products and nearly 7 per cent in the fuel group.

The data prompted JPMorgan Senior Economist Rajeev Malik to forecast that the Reserve Bank of India may raise the cash reserve ratio (CRR)