Retail inflation at 25-month low of 8.1%
13 March 2014 5:48 AM IST
Overall inflation in the food basket, including beverages, slowed to 8.57 per cent in February from 9.9 per cent in the previous month, according to Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the government on Wednesday.
The rate at which vegetable prices increased eased to 14.04 per cent as against 21.91 per cent in January.
Prior to the month under review, the lowest CPI was recorded in January 2012 at 7.65 per cent, which inched up to 8.83 per cent in the following month. Retail inflation was at 8.79 per cent in January.
Retail or consumer inflation also slowed in protein-rich items such as eggs, fish and meat to 9.69 per cent in February versus 11.69 per cent in January. The rate of price rise slowed to 9.93 per cent for cereals and related products from 11.42 per cent in January.
However, the pace of price increases for milk and its products picked up in February to 10.37 per cent from 9.82 per cent in the previous month. The prices of fruits, condiments and spices also rose faster last month.
The RBI, which has maintained a hawkish interest rate regime to tame inflation, is scheduled to announce the next monetary policy on 1 April. Industry has been demanding a cut in interest rates to boost economic growth, which has slowed to a decade-low level.
Retail inflation has been easing for three months. The CPI data showed inflation rates for rural and urban areas were at 8.51 per cent and 7.55 per cent, respectively.
In January, the wholesale price inflation rate fell to an eight-month low. Wholesale inflation data for February will be out on Friday.
Factory output grows 0.1% after three straight months of decline
New Delhi: Showing a ray of hope, industrial output entered positive territory and recorded a 0.1 per cent growth in January after contracting for three months in a row.
The marginal improvement in the index of industrial production (IIP) was mainly on account of higher power generation and mining sector output, while manufacturing declined.
However, industrial output during the 10-month period from April to January of this financial year was flat compared with an over 1 per cent growth in the same period of 2012-13.
‘IIP data is in line with expectations. There is need for considerable pick up in February-March manufacturing activities,’ Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Chairman C Rangarajan said.
In January 2013, factory output measured in terms of IIP grew 2.5 per cent.
The contraction in IIP in December was revised to 0.16 per cent from the provisional estimate of a 0.6 per cent dip. Factory output started to decline in October with the IIP contracting 1.6 per cent and continued till December, as per Central Statistics Office (CSO) data released on Wednesday.
Power generation posted a growth of 6.5 per cent in January, compared with 6.4 per cent in the same month of 2013. Expansion in power generation was 5.7 per cent in April-January from 4.7 per cent a year ago.
The mining sector, with a weight of about 14 per cent in IIP, grew 0.7 per cent in January as against a dip of 1.8 per cent in the same month in 2013. During April-January, mining output shrank 1.5 per cent as against a dip of 1.8 per cent a year earlier.
The manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 75 per cent of the index, declined 0.7 per cent in January as against growth of 2.7 per cent in the year-ago period. During April-January, the sector's output contracted 0.4 per cent compared to a growth of 0.8 per cent in same period last fiscal. Overall, 11 of the 22 industry groups in manufacturing showed positive growth in January.
Consumer goods output declined 0.6 per cent compared with growth of 2.5 per cent a year earlier. During April-January, consumer goods output contracted 2.7 per cent, compared with 2.7 per cent growth in the corresponding period of 2012-13.
The consumer durables segment contracted 8.3 per cent in January as against a decline of 0.7 per cent previously. For the April-January period, the segment declined 12.5 per cent compared with an expansion of 3.3 per cent earlier.
In consumer non-durables, growth was 4.4 per cent compared with 4.6 per cent in January last year and for the April-January period, it was 5.6 per cent versus 2.1 per cent during the first 10 months of 2012-13.
The rate at which vegetable prices increased eased to 14.04 per cent as against 21.91 per cent in January.
Prior to the month under review, the lowest CPI was recorded in January 2012 at 7.65 per cent, which inched up to 8.83 per cent in the following month. Retail inflation was at 8.79 per cent in January.
Retail or consumer inflation also slowed in protein-rich items such as eggs, fish and meat to 9.69 per cent in February versus 11.69 per cent in January. The rate of price rise slowed to 9.93 per cent for cereals and related products from 11.42 per cent in January.
However, the pace of price increases for milk and its products picked up in February to 10.37 per cent from 9.82 per cent in the previous month. The prices of fruits, condiments and spices also rose faster last month.
The RBI, which has maintained a hawkish interest rate regime to tame inflation, is scheduled to announce the next monetary policy on 1 April. Industry has been demanding a cut in interest rates to boost economic growth, which has slowed to a decade-low level.
Retail inflation has been easing for three months. The CPI data showed inflation rates for rural and urban areas were at 8.51 per cent and 7.55 per cent, respectively.
In January, the wholesale price inflation rate fell to an eight-month low. Wholesale inflation data for February will be out on Friday.
Factory output grows 0.1% after three straight months of decline
New Delhi: Showing a ray of hope, industrial output entered positive territory and recorded a 0.1 per cent growth in January after contracting for three months in a row.
The marginal improvement in the index of industrial production (IIP) was mainly on account of higher power generation and mining sector output, while manufacturing declined.
However, industrial output during the 10-month period from April to January of this financial year was flat compared with an over 1 per cent growth in the same period of 2012-13.
‘IIP data is in line with expectations. There is need for considerable pick up in February-March manufacturing activities,’ Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council Chairman C Rangarajan said.
In January 2013, factory output measured in terms of IIP grew 2.5 per cent.
The contraction in IIP in December was revised to 0.16 per cent from the provisional estimate of a 0.6 per cent dip. Factory output started to decline in October with the IIP contracting 1.6 per cent and continued till December, as per Central Statistics Office (CSO) data released on Wednesday.
Power generation posted a growth of 6.5 per cent in January, compared with 6.4 per cent in the same month of 2013. Expansion in power generation was 5.7 per cent in April-January from 4.7 per cent a year ago.
The mining sector, with a weight of about 14 per cent in IIP, grew 0.7 per cent in January as against a dip of 1.8 per cent in the same month in 2013. During April-January, mining output shrank 1.5 per cent as against a dip of 1.8 per cent a year earlier.
The manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 75 per cent of the index, declined 0.7 per cent in January as against growth of 2.7 per cent in the year-ago period. During April-January, the sector's output contracted 0.4 per cent compared to a growth of 0.8 per cent in same period last fiscal. Overall, 11 of the 22 industry groups in manufacturing showed positive growth in January.
Consumer goods output declined 0.6 per cent compared with growth of 2.5 per cent a year earlier. During April-January, consumer goods output contracted 2.7 per cent, compared with 2.7 per cent growth in the corresponding period of 2012-13.
The consumer durables segment contracted 8.3 per cent in January as against a decline of 0.7 per cent previously. For the April-January period, the segment declined 12.5 per cent compared with an expansion of 3.3 per cent earlier.
In consumer non-durables, growth was 4.4 per cent compared with 4.6 per cent in January last year and for the April-January period, it was 5.6 per cent versus 2.1 per cent during the first 10 months of 2012-13.
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