While inflation dropped to 0.44 per cent for the week ended March 7, the BPLR of the top five Indian banks was in the range of 12.25-16.75 per cent. In the corresponding period last year, inflation was estimated at 7.78 per cent, while lending rates were in the range of 12.25-12.75 per cent. Real interest rate is the difference between WPI-based inflation and the prevailing benchmark prime lending rate.
Inflation rose to 4.27 per cent for the week ended June 30 as compared to 4.13 per cent in the previous week mainly due to increase in prices of food articles and some manufactured items.
As far as outcomes are concerned, the evidence on a soft landing, while not yet conclusive, shows movement in the right direction.
Inflation dropped by 0.42 per cent to 7.38 per cent, for the second week in succession, in the week ended September 25, mainly due to fall in prices of vegetables and essential commodities.
Credit as a proportion of GDP is low in India by international standards.
No inflationary pressure in near future: Jalan
The Reserve Bank may give up its opposition to the proposal of a monthly compilation and release of inflation data, with D Subbarao moving to the central bank from the finance ministry, which was open to the idea of a shift in the time table of the Wholesale Price Index.
Costlier foods, electricity and manufactured products pushed up inflation to 4.47 per cent for the week ended March 27, but 2003-04 ended on a positive note with the price level being contained at 4-4.5 per cent.
The Reserve Bank of India may soon be given the job of both collecting and processing inflation data.
Inflation rose for the seventh consecutive week by 0.12 per cent to reach 31-week high of 5.75 per cent for the week ended December 27, mainly due to an all round hike in the prices of primary articles, fuels and manufactured items.
Announcement of macroeconmic data such as industrial production and inflation, the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision along with trends in global equities would dictate movement in the stock market this week, analysts said. Besides, foreign fund trading activity would also guide the trends in equities. "All eyes are now on the US Fed policy outcome for cues, which is scheduled on June 14. In the following sessions, the European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of Japan (BoJ) will also announce their policy decisions.
The inflation rate slipped to 4.96 per cent during the week ended October 25 due to decline in prices of food items like wheat, jowar, bajra, maize, tea, vegetables and fruits.
Of the five years when Manmohan Singh was the finance minister, only in two years did the government manage to keep the average annual inflation rate below 10 per cent. The remaining three years were hit by an average annual inflation rate (based on the wholesale price index) of 13.7 per cent in 1991-92, 10.1 per cent in 1992-93 and 12.6 per cent in 1994-95. Yet, a comparison should be useful.
RBI watchers are going to be on tenterhooks for the next 3 weeks.
Inflation fell marginally to 3.54 per cent for the week ended April 22 as against 3.55 per cent in the previous week, despite higher prices of eggs and wheat.
Inflation based on the wholesale price index rose marginally to 4.55 per cent for the week ended December 3 from 4.54 per cent in the previous week due to the increase in prices of food items.
The major task in emerging economies now is how best to tackle high or rising food prices.
Driven by erratic monsoon and higher global crude prices, inflation is likely to grow by 5.7 per cent in the current fiscal ending March 2006, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.
Inflation dipped to a two-month low of 5.20 per cent during the week ended May 28 from the previous week's level of 5.38 per cent even as some of the primary and manufactured products became costlier.
Manufactured goods and food lead the price rise.
While headline and core WPI are stuck in a disinflationary phase, the retail measure is inching north.
Continuing its fall for the third consecutive week, inflation dipped to 6.73 per cent for the week ended December 11, mainly due to cheaper vegetables and fuels, after remaining over 7 per cent since July.
Inflation revised upwards to 7.91% for week ended July 24 from provisional level of 7.51%.
CPI inflation is on the decline since July.
While the farmers are not getting remunerative prices for their produce, at the same time they are forced to pay high prices for items they consume.
Economic think-tank NCAER has revised its projections for economic growth to 7.9 per cent for 2006-07, compared to 7.7 per cent made in April due to likely higher growth in industry and services sectors.
The government has exhausted only 39 per cent of its fiscal deficit target in the first half of FY24.
Increasing prices of commodities, notably diesel and petrol, pushed up inflation to a 35-week high of 6.09 per cent in the first week of the fourth quarter this fiscal as compared to 3.78 per cent in the year-ago period.
Inflation rose to 4.10 per cent for the week ended August 11, against 4.05 per cent in the previous week, mainly due to higher prices of fruits and vegetables, bajra, masoor, gram and some manufactured goods.
Inflation in onion continued to rule high at 42.22 per cent and in potato at 43.25 per cent.
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan will announce the monetary policy on April 1 and expectations of a status quo are rising ever since the official data on consumer price inflation for February pointed to a cool down to 8.1 per cent.
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