Headline Inflation eases to 8 per cent

Mumbai, Dec 11: On account of declining prices of fruits and vegetables headline Inflation rates fell to 8 per cent for the week ended Nov 29. The wholesale price-based inflation fell by 0.4 per cent from 8.4 per cent in the previous week. The inflation was 3.89 per cent during the corresponding period a year-ago.

Inflation rates has been declining after it touched a high of 12.82 per cent in August. In primary articles group, the prices of fruits, vegetables, barley and grams declined during the week. As far as manufactured items were concerned, unrefined oil, gur, and rapeseed and mustard oil became cheaper. Among other important items, the prices of cement too dropped marginally during the week, pulling down the index of Non-Metallic mineral products group by 0.1 per cent.

Safety matches, ragi, urad, bajra, maize, and groundnut seed and oil became costlier. Paper and paper products and plastic items like PVC fitting and accessaries also became dearer. There was no movement in the index of fuel, power, light and lubricants during the week.

However, the inflation data for the week ended Nov 29 does not capture the impact of the cut in prices of petrol and diesel by the government by Rs 5 and Rs 2 per litre, respectively. Besides, it also does not reflect the price reductions following four per cent across-the-board cut in excise duty announced on Sunday, Dec 7 as part of the Govt's stimulus package to boost economy.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)