Inflation slided to a six-month low of 6.39 per cent for the week ended December 25, primarily due to a fall in prices of fuel, fruits and vegetables, edible oil and manufactured products.The wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation fell by 0.11 per cent to 6.39 per cent from 6.50 per cent in the previous week.The general price level was still higher than 5.86 per cent a year ago.A series of fiscal and monetary measures taken by the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) helped check inflation, which had touched 8.33 per cent in August 2004.Inflation also started sliding due to stabilisation of global oil prices at a level less than $45 a barrel in the recent weeks, while domestic prices remained stable.WPI fell by 0.2 per cent to 188.2 points due to a decline in fuel and manufactured products’ prices by 0.2 per cent each, although primary articles were costlier by 0.2 per cent.The government revised downwards its inflation figure to 6.95 per cent in the week ended October 30, from the provisional figure of 7.06 per cent. The final WPI stood corrected at 189.3 as against the provisional 189.5 during the same week.
