Food inflation moderates for seventh straight week to 0.42% for week ended Dec 17

29 Dec 2011 Evaluate

India’s weekly food inflation, measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), extended the declining streak for the seventh straight week and slipped to near six years low levels to 0.42% for the week ended December 17. The decline was mainly on the back of declining prices of essential items like vegetables, onion, potato, wheat and other essential commodities.

The sharp slump in food inflation numbers in the last one and half months has come as a sigh of relief for not only economic policymakers but also for the government who had been battling to control the rampant inflationary pressure on the economy since last two years. In a bid to rein inflation, RBI hiked key policy rates by 13 times since March 2010 only to pause the liquidity tightening measures in its recent meeting. Meanwhile, Pranab Mukherjee, Union Finance Minister, does not see the recently plunge in food inflation as impressive since the overall inflation still hovers comfortably above the RBI’s comfort zone.

According to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the index for ‘Food Articles’ group declined by 0.4% to 190.3 from 191.9 for the previous week due to lower prices of fruits and vegetables (4%), jowar (3%), tea and arhar (2% each) and ragi, urad and condiments and spices (1% each). However, the prices of fish-marine   (7%), poultry chicken (2%) and moong, masur, maize, fish-inland and bajra (1% each) moved up.

The index for ‘Non-Food Articles’ group rose by 0.1% to 177.6 (Provisional) from 177.4 for the previous week due to higher prices of gaur seed (8%), safflower (4%), fodder and sunflower (2% each) and linseed, rape & mustard seed, groundnut seed, soyabean and copra (1% each). However, the prices of raw silk (5%), raw jute and castor seed (2% each) and flowers, gingelly seed, raw rubber and raw cotton (1% each) declined.

As a result, the index for ‘Primary Articles’, which accounts for 20.12% of the WPI, declined by 0.1% for the week ended December 17 to 197.5 from 197.7 for the previous week. The annual rate of inflation, calculated on point to point basis, stood at 2.70% for the period under consideration as compared to 3.78% for the previous week.

Meanwhile, the index for Fuel & Power group which carries a weightage of 14.91% rose by 0.2% to 172.7 in the week from 172.4 for the previous week due to higher prices of furnace oil (4%), light diesel oil (3%) and bitumen (1%).  However, the prices of aviation turbine fuel (2%) and naphtha (1%) declined.

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