Inflation shoots up to record 62-week high

The recent 0.11 per cent climb in the inflation rate was on account of substantial increase in the prices of barley, lac, raw rubber, copra, raw silk, groundnut, cotton seed, rice bran oil, solvent extracted groundnut oil, polyester staple fibre, board manufacture, drugs, medicines, nitric acids and three wheelers. But raw jute and liquid chlorine were cheaper during the week under review .

Many financial experts had predicted the petrol cess on June 1 in the budget hikes would bolster inflation rate to someextent in coming months. They even said that this rise would soon make the inflation rate cross the seven per cent mark. But in the very first week of the budget, the inflation rate slid despite the rise in prices of urea and the petrol cess before it went up in the following week.

Stage set for revised CPI

NEW DELHI: The urban middle-class will have to wait till the turn of the century for getting the impact of changing consumption habits reflected in the dearness allowance and more importantly a relevant computation of tax liability from capital gains.

The stage is being set for revising the consumer price index for urban non-manual employees (CPI-UNME) with National Sample Survey (NSS) going in for the quick Household Consumption Survey 1999, but the revised CPI-UNME will only be ready sometime in late 2000 or 2001.

According to sources in the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), since the resources and time are lacking for having a detailed Family Living Survey, it has been decided toupdate the index on the basis of Household Consumption Survey which will take one year.