Inflation unchanged at 6.46pc
New Delhi, Apr 1 (UNI) The annual inflation rate for the week ended March 17 remained unchanged at the past two weeks' level of 6.46 per cent.
The annual inflation rate calculated on a point-to-point basis was 3.69 per cent during the corresponding week of the previous year.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should take steps necessary to moderate inflation without affecting growth.
''There was no such thing as an acceptable level of inflation, but the generally accepted tolerance level for inflation was between 4 and 4.5 per cent,'' he said.
The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for all commodities for the week ended March 10, rose by 0.05 per cent to 209.4 from 209.3 for the previous week.
The index for the Primary Articles group declined marginally to 214.2 from 214.3 for the previous week.
The index for Food Articles group declined by 0.2 per cent to 214.4 from 214.8 for the previous week due to lower prices of fruits and vegetables, wheat, arhar and barley (1 per cent each).
However, the prices of poultry chicken (4 per cent), bajra (3 per cent) and masur, fish-marine and jowar (1 per cent each) moved up.
The index for Non-Food articles group rose by 0.3 per cent to 197.5 from 197.0 for the previous week due to higher prices of niger seed (13 per cent), raw cotton (3 per cent), rape and mustard seed (2 per cent) and castor seed, cotton seed and linseed (1 per cent each).
However, the prices of raw rubber (7 per cent), tobacco (3 per cent), groundnut seed and raw silk (1 per cent each) declined.
The index for Minerals group rose by 0.4 per cent to 418.4 from 416.8 for the previous week due to higher prices of ochre (33 per cent), flourite (32 per cent), magnesite (22 per cent), steatite (14 per cent) and asbestos (1 per cent).
However, the prices of barytes (9 per cent), fire clay and vermiculite (3 per cent each) and phosphorite (1 per cent) declined.
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