New Delhi,June 01: Cheaper petrol and diesel could not bring down inflation that stood firm at the week-ago mark of 5.9 per cent for the week ended May 17 as prices of primary items, notably vegetables and fruits, shot up. The point-to-point Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation, however, stood at a mere 1.37 per cent in the comparable week in the previous year. In contrast, WPI fell marginally by 0.1 per cent to 172.3 points in the latest reported week even as there was rise in heavyweight indices of primary and manufactured items and the index was 162.7 in the previous year.
The retail price level, measured by Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers, increased to 5.12 per cent in April as compared to 4.06 per cent in the previous month. The final WPI stood at 172.1 for the week ended March 22 as compared to the provisional level of 171.6, while the final inflation was 6.3 per cent as against the provisional figure of 5.99 per cent. Bureau Report