Inflation stays at 0.61 pc

Inflation once again dodged the negative zone as the wholesale price index (WPI) jumped marginally to 232.2 in the week ending May 16 from 230 in the previous week,leaving the inflation rate unchanged at 0.61 per cent. This is the eleventh week in a row that inflation has remained in the 0-1 per cent bracket. The wholesale price index has been rising steadily the past few weeks,which is also the reason that inflation hasnt turned negative so far. So even though the inflation rate as such may be low,the WPI is higher than last years levels when inflation rate was over 8 per cent around this time a year ago. This week,the WPI rose primarily due to a surge in the prices of certain manufactured products.