Inflation at -1.58 percent but prices still rise

As per latest official data, annual inflation based on Wholesale Price Index stood at - 1.58% for the week ended July 25, 2009, while it was at 12.53% a year ago. The latest inflation number shows a steeper fall in annual inflation recorded at the end of the previous week at -1.54%.

Government data showed on Thursday that price level for all commodities stayed below zero for the eighth straight week, but prices of

food items continued to surge, signaling political trouble for the Centre and three states preparing for local elections in a few months. Maharashtra is facing assembly polls in October-November, while Haryana that is supposed to go to the polls next year is likely to advance it to this year-end. Jharkhand, now under the President’s rule, is also likely to go to polls later this year.

Inflation for week inches Up - due to trucker's strike

Breaking the 10-week down ward streak, whole sale price inflation for the week ended January 10 inched up to 5.6% on the back of firmer food prices. The inflation for food items has touched a 10-year high of 11.64% as the trucker's strike, which went on from January 5 to 12, made food items costlier. Wholesale price inflation was at 5.24% in the week before and was at 4.36 % in corresponding week last year.

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Economists dismissed the spike in inflation as a blip in the easing trajectory of inflation. More than 5 million Indian truckers have gone on strike from January 5 to 12 creating a shortage for food items and making it costlier over the week. Vegetables became costlier by almost 19% over the week while the prices of fruits and cereals also moved up. Inflation for food items moved up by one and a half percentage points from the previous week’s levels.

The 10-year benchmark bond yields closed at 5.84 %, after inflation came slightly above market expectations. The yields have touched a high of 6% in the morning trade. The 10-year bond yields is a percentage point above record low of 4.86% of January 5, following rate cuts by the central bank.The yields of ten year papers closed at 5.89% on Wednesday.

posted under - Indian inflation updates, inflation january 2009, inflation in india, Indian inflation updates, indian economy blog, inflation updates

Inflation down at 10.68%

Inflation fell below 11% to 10.68% during the week ended October 18 from 11.07% a week earlier.Earlier, a poll showed that the inflation rate was expected to have eased below 11% in mid-October for the first time in almost five months, thanks to falling commodity prices.

Eleven economists forecast a median 10.82% rise for wholesale price index based inflation rate in the 12 months to October 18, compared with 11.07% a week earlier, the slowest annual rise since late May.

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"Everything has fallen," said Kaushik Das, an economist with Kotak Mahindra Bank. "Oil prices fell sharply, the manufacturing index has come down and even the food and commodity prices which were pushing up inflation have started coming down."

The wholesale price index rose 11.07% in the 12 months to October 11, below the earlier week's annual rise of 11.44%. Inflation for the week ended August 16 was revised up to 12.82% from 12.40%.

In early August, the inflation rate had hit 12.91%, the highest reading since annual numbers in the current data series became available in April 1995. It jumped into double digits after a hike in government-controlled retail fuel prices in June.

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Commenting on the current economic scenario, the finance minister recently said that although inflation was still high, the rate of price rise would moderate further as global commodities and fuel prices continue to soften.

The government will also continue to take steps to moderate inflation and cut wasteful expenditure as it expects its fiscal deficit to swell beyond the 2008/09 target, the finance ministry said.

-source economictimes.indiatimes.com

Govt taking steps to tame inflation - Finance Ministry

The federal government is taking steps to tame inflation that was mainly driven by high commodity prices, a finance ministry statement said on Tuesday.India's wholesale price index rose to 13-year high of 11.42 per cent in mid-June, after the government raised retail fuel prices by 10 per cent last month. "Though this is the highest inflation in the last 13 years, it is largely commodity centric. Government is taking measures to moderate the inflationary pressure," the statement said, without specifying.

Reeling out data, the ministry said around 60 per cent of the increase in the prices of primary articles was accounted for by five commodities - iron ore, cotton, milk, fish and oranges. Even in the manufacturing sector, nearly 60 per cent of the increase was accounted for by eight products, six of which belong to the category of iron and steel products.

Last month, the central bank raised its key lending rate twice, first by 25 basis points and again by 50 basis points, to rein in inflation