Manufactured products bring inflation to 4.61 pc

New Delhi, Sept 24: The annual rate of inflation further dipped to 4.61 per cent for the week ended September 9 as against 4.78 per cent the previous week on account of lower price of manufactured products.

RBI governor Y V Reddy on Thursday said he was concerned about inflationary expectations despite a fall in oil prices to six-month lows however Finance Minister P Chidambaram said there was probably no need for further interest rate rises.

''At the current interest rate level we should be able to contain inflation as well as sustain and support the growth,'' Mr Chidambaram said.

The central bank expects annual inflation to be between 5 to 5.5 per cent by the end of the fiscal year in March 2007 and is due to review monetary policy on October 31.

The inflation rate calculated on point-to-point basis, stood at 4.11 per cent during the corresponding week of the previous year, according to official figures released here today.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for all commodities for the week ended September 9, 2006, rose by 0.3 per cent to 206.6 from 206.0 the previous week.

The index for the Primary Articles group rose by 1.6 per cent to 212.0 from 208.6 for the previous week.

The index for Food Articles group rose by 2.4 per cent to 215.5 from 210.4 for the previous week due to higher prices of fruits and vegetables (7 per cent), moong (5 per cent), arhar (4 per cent), jowar and milk (3 per cent each), gram, condiments and spices and eggs (2 per cent each) and mutton, urad and ragi (1 per cent each).

The index for Non-Food Articles group declined by 0.2 per cent to 187.9 from 188.3 for the previous week due to lowerv prices of raw rubber (9 per cent) and mesta (5 per cent).

However, the prices of niger seed (3 per cent) and groundnut seed (1 per cent) moved up.

The index for the Fuel, Power, Light and Lubricants group remained unchanged at its previous week's level of 326.6. The index for Manufactured Products group declined by 0.1 per cent to 178.0 from 178.2 for the previous week. The index for Food Products group rose by 0.2 per cent to 181.9 from 181.5 for the previous week due to higher prices of sunflower oil (6 per cent), hydrogenated vanaspati (4 per cent), sooji (rawa) (3 per cent), gingelly oil (2 per cent) and groundnut oil, maida and atta (1 per cent each).

However, the prices of imported edible oil, rice bran oil and oil cakes (1 per cent each) declined.

The index for Textiles group rose by 0.2 per cent to 133.1 from 132.9 for the previous week due to higher prices of viscose staple fibre (3 per cent) and polyster staple fibre (1 per cent).

However, the prices of hessian and sacking bags (1 per cent) declined.

The index for Paper and Paper Products group rose by 0.5 per cent to 190.7 from 189.7 for the previous week due to higher prices of printing paper white (3 per cent) and cream laid woven paper.

The index for Rubber and Plastic Products group rose by 2.9 per cent to 149.4 from 145.2 for the previous week due to higher prices of pvc pipes and tubings (24 per cent).

However, the prices of decorative laminates (4 per cent) declined.

The index for Chemicals and Chemical Products group declined by 1.5 per cent to 192.9 from 195.8 for the previous week due to lower prices of epoxy resins (72 per cent), acid (all kinds) (7 per cent), liquid chlorine (4 per cent) and oxygen (1 per cent).

The index for Non-Metallic Minerals Products group declined by 0.2 per cent to 188.3 from 188.6 for the previous week due to fall in the prices of Cement.

The index for Basic Metal Alloys and Metal Products group rose by 0.1 per cent to 232.5 from 232.2 for the previous week due to higher prices of zinc (5 per cent) and zinc ingots and lead ingots (4 per cent each).

The index for Machinery and Machine Tools group declined by 0.1 per cent to 152.8 from 152.9 for the previous week due to lower prices of TV sets (b and w) (4 per cent).

UNI