By IANS,
New Delhi : India’s annual rate of inflation swelled to 12.44 percent for the week ended Aug 2 as compared to 12.01 percent the week before, goading the finance ministry to say this was a major disappointment.
“The rate of inflation for all commodities for the week ending August 2 stands at 12.44 percent, higher than the rate of 12.01 percent reported last week,” the finance ministry said in a statement soon after the data was released.
“After being nearly stable for four weeks, this rise has come as a major disappointment,” the ministry said.
“The annual rate of inflation calculated on point-to-point basis stood at 12.44 percent for the week ending August 2,” stated the ministry of commerce and industry in the official data released Thursday for the wholesale price index (WPI) for all commodities.
The index for food articles rose 0.9 percent due to higher prices of maize (4 percent), condiments and spices (3 percent), fruits and vegetables (2 percent). Non-food articles went up by 0.2 percent.
The index for fuel, power, light and lubricants rose 0.9 percent due to higher prices of light diesel oil (16 percent), bitumen and furnace oil (8 percent each), and aviation fuel (3 percent).
The final WPI for all commodities stood at 236.5 for the week ended June 7, as compared to 235.2 (provisional).
The annual rate of inflation based on final index, calculated on point-to-point basis stood at 11.66 percent as compared to 11.05 percent (provisional).
The finance ministry said that in the primary articles group, the annual point-to-point inflation increased to 11.43 percent as compared to 10.32 percent for the week before.
“In the commodity group of fuel and power, the rate of inflation has risen to 17.99 from 17.12 percent.”