Inflation that had broken last 13th year record high in August this year has now slipped to 6.84% registering a steep fall of 1.16% as against previous week’s released data on the back of fuel price deduction.
The office of Economic Adviser, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, which releases the WPI data Thursday, informed in a released statement that the annual rate of inflation calculated on point-to-point basis dipped to 6.84% for the week ended on December 06, compared to 8.0% of previous week.
The reduction in the oil prices, as the government on December 5 announced Rs 5 cut in petrol and Rs 2 cut in diesel in response to sharp fall in global crude oil prices, has pushed the inflation backward.
According to WPI data, the plunge in the prices of naphtha (23%), furnace oil (15%), bitumen (11%), petrol (10%), aviation turbine fuel (7%), high speed diesel oil (6%), light diesel oil (5%), lubricants (4%), benzene (41%), purified terephthalic acid (pta) (24%), bopp film (11%) pig iron and foundary pig iron (7% each), joist & rolls and oromild steel & tensile plates (6% each), wire (all kinds) (5%), zinc (4%), skelps, cr coils and zinc ingots (3% each), cr sheets and angles, channels & sections (2% each) and steel sheets, plates & strips and other iron steel (1% each) helped the inflation to slow down.
However the prices of fodder (2%), groundnut seed, gingelly seed and raw cotton (1% each), gur and bran (all kinds) (4% each), atta (2%) and cottonseed oil, groundnut oil and ghee (1% each) jumped marginally, WPI reported.
The final index for all commodities for the week ended on October 11, 2008 stood at 11.30% as against 11.07% (provisional) reported earlier vide press note on October 24, 2008, stated WPI data.
This slipping of inflation would provide great relief to government and encourage it to step out some bold steps while the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) can also cut the interest rate in credit and deposits, economists believe.
|
|
Comments:
