Wholesale price inflation rate almost unchanged at (-) 0.91% in February

The annual rate of inflation, based on the wholesale price index (WPI), stood at (-) 0.91 per cent in February 2016, almost unchanged from the previous month's level of (-) 0.90 per cent, provisional figures released by the Central Statistics Organisation (CSO) showed.

Wholesale price inflation stood at (-) 2.17 per cent during the corresponding month of the previous year.

Build-up inflation in the financial year so far stood at (-) 1.19 per cent compared to a build-up rate of (-) 2.61 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Inflation rate for the primary articles group (which has a weight of 20.12 per cent in the wholesale price index declined by 3.4 per cent during the month.

Among primary articles, the index for 'food articles' group declined by 3.2 per cent due to lower prices of fruits and vegetables, wheat, jowar, egg, arhar, moong, masoor and gram, coffee, condiments and spices and fish. However, the price of barley, fish-marine, bajra and pork, ragi, maize and poultry chicken moved up.

Inflation rate for the `fuel and power' group, which has a weight of 14.91 per cent in the wholesale price index declined by 1.2 per cent due to lower prices of aviation turbine fuel, bitumen, furnace oil, LPG, petrol and high speed diesel.

Inflation rate for the `manufactured products' group, which has a weight of 64.97 per cent in the wholesale price index, rose by 0.3 per cent in February.

Among manufactured products, the inflation rate for the 'food products' group rose by 0.8 per cent due to higher prices of vanaspati, sugar, gingelly oil and tea dust (unblended), khandsari, sunflower oil, palm oil and canned fish. However, the price of tea dust and tea leaf (blended), mustard and rapeseed oil, processed prawn, tea leaf (unblended), powder milk, mixed spices and gur declined.

Inflation rate for the 'beverages, tobacco and tobacco products' group rose by 0.4 per cent due to higher prices of chewing tobacco, dried tobacco and beer.

Inflation rate for the 'textiles' group rose by 0.1 per cent due to higher prices of jute yarn, jute sacking cloth and jute sacking bag, gunny and hessian cloth and cotton yarn. However, the price of tyre cord fabric declined.

Inflation rate for the 'wood and wood products' group rose by 0.3 per cent due to higher price of plywood and fibre board. However, the price of processed wood declined.

Inflation rate for the 'paper and paper products' group declined by 0.1 per cent due to lower prices of corrugated sheet boxes and printing and writing paper. However, the prices of cream laid woven paper and newsprint moved up.

Inflation rate for the 'leather and leather products' group rose by 0.3 per cent due to higher price of leather.

Inflation rate for the 'rubber and plastic products' group declined by 0.1 per cent due to lower price of tyres. However, the price of tubes moved up.

Inflation rate for the 'chemicals and chemical products' group declined by 0.1 per cent due to lower prices of ammonium sulphate, photographic goods, pesticides, rubber chemicals and basic organic chemicals. However, the price of lacquer and varnishes, synthetic resin, hair / body oils and washing powder moved up.

Inflation rate for the 'non-metallic mineral products' group declined by 0.5 per cent due to lower prices of marbles, asbestos corrugated sheet, railway sleeper, slag cement and grey cement. However, the price of polished granite moved up.

Inflation rate for the 'basic metals, alloys and metal products' group rose by 0.5 per cent due to higher prices of gold and gold ornaments, steel rods, zinc, including pipes/tubes/rods/strips, lead, silver, wire rods, ferro silicon and CRC.  However, the price of steel, iron castings and pig iron and GP/GC sheets, billets, melting scrap, ferro manganese, joist and beams, steel structures and pencil  ingots declined.

Inflation rate for the 'machinery and machine tools' group rose by 0.1 per cent due to higher price of fibre optic cable, machine tools and grinding /wet coffee machinery, engines and ball/roller bearing and earth moving machinery.  However, the price of industrial valves and insulators declined.

The actual inflation rate for December 2015, based on the the final wholesale price index for 'all commodities' stood at (-) 1.06 per cent against (-) 0.73 per cent (provisional) reported earlier.