Prices look north this year

Going by the numbers compiled by the price monitoring cell of the consumer affairs department, the retail prices of most essential items have remained stable for the past one month, though they are high compared to those prevailing six months ago or a year ago.

The annual inflation rate numbers also show that the prices remained higher than their last year's level only between the first week of June and mid-July. The peak was in the middle of June this year.

The price monitoring cell data for retail prices in Delhi shows no change in prices of most commodities in the past one month "" between July 3 and August 3. The only exceptions are mustard oil and vanaspati, both of which have moved up by Re 1 a kg, and tea (loose) which dropped by Rs 3.50 a kg during this period.

However, when compared with the levels prevailing six months ago or a year ago, the prices of almost all the items are relatively high.

The prices of pulses, though stable for the past one month, are ruling perceptibly higher than their levels in February this year or August last year. Gram, for instance, selling at Rs 31 a kg yesterday, was only Rs 27 a kg six months ago on February 3 and still lower at Rs 25 a kg on August 3, 2006.

This data shows that the retail price of rice in Delhi has remained almost static at Rs 14 a kg since July 3, 2006, though it is higher by Re 1 than on February 3 (six months ago) as well as on August 3, 2005 (a year ago).

Similarly, the retail price of wheat is stable at Rs 10 a kg for one month, though it was Rs 11 six months ago and only Rs 9 a year back.

Wheat prices in other cities also reflect stability in recent weeks, despite some marginal increase in Lucknow, Jaipur, Bhopal and Patna. The retail prices in Hyderabad, on the other hand, have declined slightly.

The futures prices of wheat for August and September contracts are reported at Rs 863 and Rs 887 a quintal, respectively. At these levels, the futures prices are lower than the spot price of wheat at Rs 890 per quintal on July 31, 2006.