Inflation rate declines again

However, it remained above eight per cent mark at 8.34 per cent during the corresponding week of last year. The losing trend in the inflation rate was witnessed despite rise in prices of food and non-food articles, food products, chemicals and chemical products, basic metals, alloys and metal products and transport, equipment and parts.

The reason for decline in inflation was attributed to the higher agricultural production of foodgrains and oilseeds which paved the way to this fall. Due to increase in the index of food articles, theofficial wholesale price index (WPI) for `all commodities’ (base: 1981-82) for the week ending August 14, 1999 stood at 358.9 (provisional) as against 358.3 (provisional) for the previous week, thus recording a rise of 0.2 per cent.

The final WPI for `all commodities’ (base: 1981-82) for the week ending June 19, 1999 stood at 358.4 as against 357.2 (provisional) given earlier on July four, 1999. The annual rate of inflation for the week ending June 19, 1999 based on final index calculated on point to point basis stood at 2.9 per cent as against 2.5 per cent calculated based on provisional index.