India's annual inflation decreased slightly in March from the previous month, data released by the Government showed on Monday.
The headline WPI inflation for March stayed below the 7% mark after falling below it in January.
Inflation, as measured by the wholesale price index (WPI), was at 6.89% in March as against 6.95% in February, the Union Commerce & Industry Minister said today.
The March inflation print was slightly better than consensus expectations.
The annual inflation rate was at 9.68% during the corresponding month of the previous year.
Inflation for January was revised higher to 6.89% from the preliminary estimate of 6.55% while the revised WPI for that month now stands at 158.2 as compared to 157.7 earlier.
The official WPI for ‘All Commodities’ for March rose by 0.9% to 159.8 from 158.4 in the
preceding month.
Build up inflation in the financial year so far was 6.89% compared to a build up of 9.68% in the corresponding period of the previous year.
WPI Break-up for March 2011:
Primary Articles: 9.62% vs 6.28% MoM
Food Group: 9.94% vs 6.07% MoM
Fuel & Power: 10.41% vs 12.83% MoM
Manufacturing Products: 4.87% vs 5.75% MoM
Source: Commerce & Industry Ministry.
Onions turned cheaper by ~24% in the month under consideration, Vegetable prices were up ~30% on an annual basis. Fruit prices were down by 4.5% year over year, while Milk prices increased ~15.3%. Egg, Meat & Fish became costlier by ~17.7% compared to the year-ago period.
Potato prices were up ~11.60% on an annual basis while Cereal prices went up by ~4.4% year over year. Prices of Pulses rose by ~10%. Annual inflation in Rice stood at ~4.7% while Wheat prices were down ~0.7%.
In the Non-Food category, prices of Oilseeds rose by ~12.8% from a year ago while that of Fibres fell by ~31.4%. Mineral prices climbed more than 28.5% from last year.
In Fuel & Power category, LPG prices were up ~14.3%, petrol by ~12.04% and diesel by ~9.2%.
In Manufactured Products category, Food Products prices rose by ~6%, while that of Edible Oils increased by ~10%. The price of Beverages, Tobacco & Tobacco Product jumped 8.2% while that of Cotton Textiles fell ~8.5%.
Price of Wood & Wood Products increased by ~7% while that of Leather & Leather Products increased 4.5%.
Chemicals & Chemical Products' prices jumped by ~7.4% while that of Non-Metallic Mineral Products rose by 5.6%, Cement & Lime ~4.75%, Basic Metals Alloys & Metal Products ~9.5% and Iron & Semis by ~17%.
By RAZI ANWAR(PGDM 2nd Sem)
