Given the higher costs of sugar and vegetables, annual rate of inflation, based on the consumer prices index (CPI) in India, accelerated at the fastest pace in three months to 9.90 percent in November, 2012. Food inflation in the CPI rose by 11.81 percent in November from 11.43 percent in October 2012.
According to the data released by Central Statistics Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, provisional annual inflation rate based on all India general CPI (Combined) for November 2012 on point to point basis stood at 9.90 percent as compared to 9.75 percent for the previous month of October 2012.
According to the data, monthly provisional CPI on Base 2010=100 along with annual inflation rates for November 2012, all India provisional General (all groups), CPI numbers of November 2012 for rural, urban and combined were at 126.9, 123.4 and 125.4 respectively. The corresponding inflation rates for rural and urban areas for November came in at 9.97 percent and 9.69 percent respectively as against October’s 9.90 percent and 9.46 percent, respectively, which indicated that the rate of price cooled down, both in rural as well urban areas.
India has the highest retail inflation among the BRICS group of emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, China, and South Africa – and the current rate is way above the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s comfort level. However, unlike most central banks, the RBI uses wholesale inflation in its policy formulation, which has shown sign of cooling down.
India’s WPI inflation rate in October declined to 7.45 percent in October 2012 (over October, 2011) as compared to 7.81 percent (Provisional) for the previous month and 9.87 percent during the corresponding month of the previous year. Build up inflation in the financial year so far was 4.78 percent compared to a buildup of 5.02 percent in the corresponding period of the previous year.