Inflation slips to 11.99 percent

New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS) India's inflation rate showed moderation to 11.99 percent for the week ended Sep 20 as against 12.14 percent for the week before, but was calculated finally at 12.53 percent for the week ended July 26.

The ministry of commerce and industry's provisional data Friday showed the wholesale price index (WPI) moderating, but the annual rate of inflation, calculated on point to point basis, at 12.53 percent for the week ended July 26 showed inflationary heat remaining intact.

'Annual rate of inflation, year-on-year as conventionally measured, declined to 11.99 percent for the week ending Sep 20 after remaining above 12 percent for 12 weeks.

'Inflation in the corresponding period the previous year at 3.51 percent, however, was significantly lower,' said the finance ministry in a statement.

The WPI for all commodities declined to 241 (provisional) for the period under reference from 241.1 (provisional) the previous week.

The WPI data showed a decline of 0.2 percent in the index of primary articles comprising groundnut seed, raw rubber and castor seed, while the index for food articles like tea and milk rouse by 0.2 percent.

'The annual rate of inflation, based on final index, calculated on point-to-point basis stood at 12.53 percent for the week ended July 26 as compared to 12.01 percent (provisional),' said the commerce and industry ministry in a statement.

Though the price index for fuel, power, light and lubricants remained unchanged, there was an increase of 0.1 percent in the index of manufactured products like pulp, safety matches, pig iron and basic pig iron.

Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor C. Rangarajan, who also chaired the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council till recently, has forecast that the inflation rate would moderate to 10 percent by December.

The finance ministry said out of a total of 98 primary articles, 16 articles like rice, wheat, maize, gram, onions, and black pepper showed a decline in prices in the current week as compared to the week before.

'In the commodity group 'fuel and power', the rate of inflation declined to 16.52 percent compared to 16.66 percent in the previous week,' said the finance ministry.