Headline Inflation dips to 10.68 per cent

New Delhi, Oct 30: The headline inflation rate for the week ended Oct 18 declined to 10.68 per cent as against 11.07 per cent in the previous week. The annual inflation rate was 3.11 per cent during the corresponding week of the previous year, according to official data released on Thursday, Oct 30.

The official Wholesale Price Index for 'All Commodities' for the week ended October 18, 2008 declined by 0.2 per cent to 238.3 (Provisional) from 238.8 (Provisional) for the previous week. The index for 'Primary Articles' group declined by 0.3 per cent to 248.8 (Provisional) from 249.5 (Provisional) for the previous week. The index for 'Food Articles' group rose by 0.2 per cent to 243.0 (Provisional) from 242.6 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of bajra and maize (five per cent each), jowar (two per cent) and fruits&vegetables (one per cent).

However, the prices of wheat and arhar (two per cent each) and urad (one per cent) declined.

The index for 'Non-Food Articles' group declined by 1.5 per cent to 231.7 (Provisional) from 235.3 (Provisional) for the previous week due to lower prices of raw rubber (eight per cent), raw cotton (six per cent) and groundnut seed (one per cent).

However, the prices of rape&mustard seed (one per cent) moved up.

The annual rate of inflation for 'Primary Articles' stood at 10.92 per cent (Provisional) for the week ended October 18 as compared to 11.53 per cent (Provisional) in the previous week.

It was 5.11 per cent in the corresponding period last year.

The annual rate of inflation for 'Food Articles' stood at 8.43 per cent (Provisional) for the week ended October 18 as compared to 8.74 per cent (Provisional) in the previous week and 3.27 per cent in the year-ago period.

The index for 'Fuel, Power, Light&Lubricants' group declined by 0.4 per cent to 369.3 (Provisional) from 370.6 (Provisional) for the previous week due to lower prices of furnace oil (six per cent) and light diesel oil (three per cent).

However, the prices of bitumen (four per cent) moved up.

The index for 'Manufactured Products' group declined by 0.1 per cent to 205.4 (Provisional) from 205.7 (Provisional) for the previous week. The index for 'Food Products' group declined by 0.5 per cent to 204.4 (Provisional) from 205.4 (Provisional) for the previous week due to lower prices of imported edible oil (four per cent), oilcakes (three per cent), rice bran oil and gingelly oil (two per cent each) and groundnut oil (one per cent).

However, the prices of khandsari (four per cent) and gur (one per cent) moved up.

The index for 'Beverages, Tobacco&Tobacco Products' group rose by 1.0 per cent to 296.6 (Provisional) from 293.7 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of bidi (five per cent).

The index for 'Textiles' group declined by 0.1 per cent to 139.9 (Provisional) from 140.0 (Provisional) for the previous week due to lower prices of texturised yarn (four per cent).

However, the prices of hessian cloth and hessian&sacking bags (one per cent each) moved up.

The index for 'Chemicals&Chemical Products' group declined by 0.1 per cent to 224.5 (Provisional) from 224.8 (Provisional) for the previous week due to lower prices of p.v.c. resins (14 per cent), purified terephthalic acid (pta) (12 per cent) and benzene (two per cent).

The index for 'Non-Metallic Mineral Products' group rose by 0.1 per cent to 218.2 (Provisional) from 217.9 (Provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of building bricks (three per cent).

The index for 'Basic Metals, Alloys&Metal Products' group declined by 0.3 per cent to 296.7 (Provisional) from 297.7 (Provisional) for the previous week due to lower prices of zinc (11 per cent), lead ingots, basic pig iron and foundary pig iron (three per cent each), zinc ingots and ms bars&rounds (two per cent each) and steel sheets, plates&strips (one per cent).

For the week ended August 23, the final wholesale price index for 'All Commodities' stood at 241.2 as compared to 240.3 (Provisional) and annual rate of inflation based on final index stood at 12.76 per cent as compared to 12.34 per cent (Provisional) reported earlier.

UNI