NEW DELH: Inflation based on the wholesale price (WPI) moved up to 12.44% for the week ended August 2 from the previous week level of 12.01% due to higher prices of food and fuel. A UTVi poll had estimated inflation to come in at 12.21%.
The government also revised the inflation figure for the week ended June 7 to 11.66% from the earlier announced 11.05%.
A finance ministry statement said the spike in inflation was "disappointing."
According to an official release issued today, the wholesale price index for all commodities for the week ended August 2,2008 rose by 0.3% to 240.4 (provisional) from 239.6 (provisional) for the previous week. The annual rate of inflation stood at 4.39% in the year-ago period (August 4, 2007).
The index for food articles group rose 0.9% to 238.1 (provisional) from 236 (provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of maize (4%), moong, condiments & spices and urad (3% each), fruit & vegetables, jowar and fish-marine (2% each) and masur, tea, bajra and arhar (1% each).
The index for non-food articles group rose 0.2% to 246.7 (provisional) from 246.3 (provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of raw rubber (5%) and raw tobacco, linseed and cotton seed (1% each).
The index for the fuel, power, light and lubricants increased 0.9% to 380.4 (provisional) from 377 (provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of light diesel oil (16%), bitumen and furnace oil (8% each) and aviation turbine fuel (3%). However, the prices of naphtha (2%) declined.
For the week ended June 8, 2008, the final wholesale price index for all commodities stood at 236.5 as compared to 235.2 (provisional), and the annual rate of inflation based on the final index stood at 11.66% when compared with the earlier reported level of 11.05%.
Abheek Barua,chief economist, HDFC Bank, said the number was a surprise. "There has been a genuine pick up in some categories. There has been delayed data capture. Well, I some what expected the numbers to go up on the fuel index - say things like ATF or naptha, which move along international prices, and often don't get captured on time.
He added that electricity tariff has gone up in some states, and that is getting reflected now.
Barua said inflation would peak out at around 14%, and said there may not be any immediate response from the central bank. |
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