Inflation surges to 8. 75 pc, hits 7-yr high

Mumbai, June 13: Inflation jumped to a seven years high at 8.75 per cent on Friday. It was 8. 24 per cent for the week ending of May 24. It was 8.1 per cent for the week ending May 17. Market estimates at 8.32 per cent. Primary articles rose to 0.9 per cent. Inflation for the week ended April 5 was revised upwards to 7.71 per cent from 7.14 per cent.

The annual inflation rate was 5.09 per cent during the corresponding week of the previous year. The wholesale price index is more closely watched than the consumer price index, which is published monthly, because it covers a higher number of products and is published weekly.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for 'All Commodities' for the week ended May 31 rose by 0.6 per cent to 231.1 (Provisional) from 229.8 (Provisional) for the previous week.

The index for 'Primary Articles' group rose by 0.9 per cent to 243.4 (Provisional) from 241.3 (Provisional) for the previous week.

The index for 'Food Articles' group rose by 0.6 per cent to 234.2 (Provisional) from 232.9 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of eggs (four per cent), condiments and spices and urad (two per cent each) and barley, fruits and vegetables, mutton, milk and wheat (one per cent each).

However, the prices of fish-marine (two per cent) declined.

The index for 'Non-Food Articles' group rose by 1.9 per cent to 235.8 (Provisional) from 231.5 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of hides (raw) (nine per cent), linseed (six per cent), raw rubber (five per cent), raw cotton (four per cent), rape and mustard seed (three per cent), groundnut seed (two per cent) and copra (one per cent).

However, the prices of skins (raw) (eight per cent), raw silk (three per cent) and castor seed (one per cent) declined.

The index for 'Fuel, Power, Light and Lubricants' group remained unchanged at its previous week's level of 347.2 (Provisional).

The index for 'Manufactured Products' group rose by 0.7 per cent to 201.0 (Provisional) from 199.6 (Provisional) for the previous week. The index for 'Food Products' group rose by one per cent to 206.8 (Provisional) from 204.8 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of rape and mustard oil (six per cent), oil cakes and cotton seed oil (three per cent each) and groundnut oil, rice bran oil and coconut oil (one per cent).

However, the prices of butter (one per cent) declined.

The index for 'Beverages, Tobacco and Tobacco Products' group rose by 0.2 per cent to 285.6 (Provisional) from 285.0 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of beer and alcohol (10 per cent).

The index for 'Textiles' group rose by 3.9 per cent to 134.4 (Provisional) from 129.3 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of cotton yarn-hanks (16 per cent) and cotton yarn-cones (eight per cent).

However, the prices of hessian and sacking bags (three per cent) and hessian cloth (two per cent) declined.

The index for 'Paper and Paper products' group rose by 1.2 per cent to 199.4 (Provisional) from 197.0 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of printing paper white (five per cent) and other boards (all kinds) and cream laid woven paper (four per cent each).

The index for 'Leather and Leather Products' group rose by 1.3 per cent to 166.5 (Provisional) from 164.4 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of footwear western type (one per cent).

The index for 'Rubber and Plastic Products' group declined by 0.1 per cent to 163.9 (Provisional) from 164.1 (Provisional) for the previous week due to lower prices of decorative laminates (five per cent).

The index for 'Chemicals and Chemicals Products' group rose by 0.2 per cent to 213.5 (Provisional) from 213.1 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of epoxy resins (16 per cent), fireworks (12 per cent), synthetic resins (five per cent) and methanol (four per cent).

However, the prices of adhesives (two per cent) declined.

The index for 'Non-Metallic Mineral Products' group rose by 0.05 per cent to 213.5 (Provisional) from 213.4 (Provisional) for the previous week due to marginal rise in the prices of cement.

The index for 'Basic Metals, Alloys and Metal Products' group declined by 0.1 per cent to 292.5 (Provisional) from 292.7 (Provisional) for the previous week due to lower prices of zinc and lead ingots (five per cent each), and zinc ingots (three per cent).

The index for 'Machinery and Machine Tools' group rose by 0.2 per cent to 172.8 (Provisional) from 172.5 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of excavator (10 per cent), acsr conductors (three per cent) and electric motors (two per cent).

UNI