Manufactured products push inflation to 5.48 pc

New Delhi, Jan 5: Higher food and manufactured product prices pushed the annual inflation rate further to 5.48 per cent for the week ended December 23 from 5.43 per cent the previous week.

The inflation rate calculated on a point-to-point basis, stood at 4.62 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 December 23, rose by 0.1 per cent to 208.0 from 207.8 for the previous week.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the central bank was targeting inflation and cannot allow it to get out of hand.

''RBI is using a mixture of the instruments available to moderate credit growth. Credit is still growing at 30.5 per cent (year-on-year) and that has been so for nearly 20 months now. My concern is credit must grow, but productive sectors must not be starved of credit,'' he said yesterday.

The index for the Primary Articles group rose by 0.3 per cent to 212.4 from 211.8 for the previous week.

The index for Food Articles group rose by 0.1 per cent to 214 from 213.8 for the previous week due to higher prices of bajra, maize and fish-marine (2 per cent each) and wheat and ragi (1 per cent each).

However, the prices of jowar, moong, barley, urad and gram (1 per cent each) declined.

The index for Non-Food Articles group rose by 0.8 per cent to 191.3 from 189.8 for the previous week due to higher prices of sunflower (11 per cent), raw rubber (1 per cent) and safflower (kardi seed) (8 per cent each) and linseed, fodder and raw tobacco (3 per cent each).

However, the prices of raw jute and copra (1 per cent each) declined.

The index for Minerals group rose by 0.09 per cent to 430.6 from 426.9 for the previous week due to higher prices of fire clay (57 per cent), barytes (17 per cent), magnesite (5 per cent) and iron ore (1 per cent).

However, the prices pf steatite (17 per cent) and vermiculite (5 per cent) declined.

The index for Fuel, Power, Light and Lubricants group declined by 0.3 per cent to 321.6 from 322.6 the previous week due to lower prices of electricity (1 per cent). The index for the Manufactured Products group rose by 0.2 per cent to 181.2 from 180.8 for the previous week. The index for Food Products group rose by 0.8 per cent to 185.9 from 184.5 for the previous week due to higher prices of unblended black tea leaf gr (18 per cent) and rice bran oil, oil cakes and imported edible oil (2 per cent each).

However, the prices of processed tea (6 per cent) and sugar (1 per cent declined).

The index for Textiles group rose by 0.1 per cent to 132.0 from 131.9 for the previous week due to higher prices of hessian cloth and hessian and sacking bags (1 per cent each).

The index for Rubber and Plastic Products group declined by 0.1 per cent to 151.7 from 151.9 for the previous week due to lower prices of plastic containers (6 per cent).

The index for Chemicals and Chemical Products group declined by 0.1 per cent to 194.1 from 194.2 for the previous week due to lower prices of calcium ammonium nitrate n-content (2 per cent) and hair oil (1 per cent).

The index for Basic Metal Alloys and Metal Products group rose by 0.1 per cent to 239.9 from 239.6 for the previous week due to higher prices of barrels (7 per cent), zinc (4 per cent) and aluminium foils (3 per cent).

However, the prices of lead ingots (3 per cent) and zinc ingots (2 per cent) declined.

The index for Machinery and Machine Tools group rose by 0.6 per cent to 159.1 from 158.1 for the previous week due to higher prices of enammelled copper wires (31 per cent).

UNI