labels: industry - general, economy - general, governance
Inflation rate falls to 5.42 per centnews
Our Economy Bureau
29 January 2005

New Delhi: The annual wholesale price index- (WPI) based inflation fell to a 33-week low of 5.42 per cent during the week ended January 15, from 5.6 per cent in the previous week.

The fall in the point-to-point inflation index was mainly on account of a dip in prices of essential items like vegetables, fruits, tea, edible oil and naphtha.

During the latest recorded week, the WPI remained unchanged at the previous week''s level of 188.6. The ''primary articles'' index declined to 185.5 points during the week, from 185.9 in the previous week as prices for food items dipped by 0.3 per cent and for non-food items by 0.1 per cent.

The ''manufactured products'' index rose by 0.1 per cent to 167.5 points, due to costlier food products, non-metallic minerals, basic metals and machinery, though prices fell for textiles, chemicals and transport parts.

The ''index for fuel, power, light and lubricants group'' dipped marginally to 288 due to a 1 per cent fall in naphtha prices, although furnace oil became costlier by 1 per cent.

Among the ''primary articles'', the index for food articles dipped to 183.9 due to lower prices of tea (4 per cent), eggs and vegetables (3 per cent), arhar, fruits, jowar, ragi, moong, condiments and spices (1 per cent each).

Prices of bajra, barley, urad and gram rose by 1 per cent. The ''non-food articles'' group index fell marginally to 182.1 owing to lower prices of raw silk (5 per cent), copra, rape and mustard seeds, fodder and raw cotton (1 per cent each). However, safflower was costlier by 2 per cent, while raw tobacco and sunflower rose by 1 per cent each.

In case of the ''manufactured products group'', the ''food products'' index rose by 0.2 per cent to 177.5 due to higher prices of sugar, oil cakes (1 per cent each).

The ''textiles group'' index declined by 0.2 per cent to 133 due to lower prices of polyester staple fibre (two per cent) and other cotton yarn (one per cent). The index for chemicals and chemical products'' fell by 0.1 per cent to 183.3 owing to lower prices of PVC resins and purified terephthalic acid (8 per cent each). But prices rose for endosulfan (2 per cent) and monocrotophos (1 per cent).

Cement prices increased marginally pushing up non-metallic mineral products'' group index by 0.1 per cent to 156.6. The basic metals alloys and metal products'' index rose marginally to 206.5 due to rise in prices of aluminium extrusion and steel sheets, plates and strips (3 per cent each). The machinery and machine tools'' index rose by 0.1 per cent to 142.6 points due to higher prices of enamelled copper wires and electric motors (4 per cent each). A one per cent fall in prices of other automobile spare parts pushed down the transport equipment and parts group index to 155.6.


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Inflation rate falls to 5.42 per cent