After an eight-week unhindered rally of inflation, it finally showed signs of easing as the annual rate of inflation for the week ended July 12 declined marginally to 11.89 per cent from the previous week’s figure of 11.91 per cent. The wholesale price index, which is the basis for measuring inflation, stood at 239, up from 238.7 in the previous week. The moderation in inflation was largely because of slow growth in the prices of the manufactured commodities group, the WPI for which rose by 0.05 per cent. On the other hand, WPI for primary articles rose 0.6 per cent while that for fuel and fuel products remained unchanged. The index for the 'textiles' group of commodities declined by 0.1 per cent owing to a fall in the prices of texturised yarn, hessian bags and cloth. The Finance Ministry issued a statement highlighting the fact that inflation has “continued to remain stable” on a week-on-week basis. It further added that in the primary articles group, 10 articles, including tea, potatoes, oranges and fish-marine, have shown a decline while that of 54 others remained unchanged. Among manufactured items, 299 items out of a total of 318 showed no increase in prices while 9 others saw a decline in prices.But inflation woes are far from over, say analysts. “Though it would be inappropriate to draw conclusions so soon, one thing that is good is the softening of the international prices of crude oil. Only if this is sustained and there is assurance of no more fuel price hikes, can we be confident that inflation will moderate,” said D K Joshi, principal economist, CRISIL. However, crude oil prices are not the only thing the Indian government has to worry about. “Monsoons have not been very good in many parts of the country and there is significant pressure on prices of agricultural commodities. If the situation doesn't turn for the better soon, we could soon be headed towards food price-led inflation,” he added. On whether the Reserve Bank of India will go further monetary tightening, Joshi believes it most certainly will. 0.05 pcRise in WPI for manufactured commodities group0.6 pcRise in WPI for primary articles • WPI for fuel and fuel products remained unchanged. •The index for the textiles group of commodities declined by 0.1 per cent
