New Delhi:
Falling for the third straight month, retail inflation stood at 9.31 per cent in May due to easing of prices of edible oil and protein-based items, even as vegetable prices inched up sharply.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation stood at 9.39 per cent in April. It was 10.39 per cent in March. The overall food and beverages segment saw an inflation of 10.65 per cent in May, higher than 10.61 per cent in April. The prices in the vegetables basket rose sharply to 9.78 per cent in May from 5.43 per cent in April, according to data released today.
However, inflation in protein-based items -- egg, meat and fish -- declined to 12.52 per cent during the month, from 13.60 per cent in April.
In oils and fats segment, it was 5.49 per cent, down from 7.52 per cent in April. Among all the constituents that make the CPI, cereals recorded the highest inflation of 16.29 per cent in May.
Besides, inflation in pulses stood at 9.59 per cent and in sugar it was 9.21 per cent on an annual basis. The rate of price rise in clothing and footwear segment stood at 9.72 per cent during the month. In urban areas, retail inflation declined to 9.65 per cent in May from 9.73 per cent in April.
The CPI for rural population fell to 8.98 per cent during the reported month from 9.16 per cent in April. The data for wholesale price index-based inflation for May is expected on Friday. The WPI in April eased to over three-year low of 4.89 per cent.
The RBI would take into account the drop in retail inflation and the WPI numbers while formulating its mid-quarterly policy review, which is scheduled on June 17.
In order to accelerate economic growth, the Reserve Bankof India (RBI) had last month cut key interest rates by 0.25per cent. Meanwhile, another key economic indicator the index ofindustrial output (IIP) grew at 2 per cent in April.
Factory output growth slows to 2% in April
The industrial production growth has slipped to 2 per cent in April on account of dismal performance of manufacturing, mining and power sectors coupled with lower output of capital goods.
The factory output measured in terms of index of industrial production (IIP) had seen a contraction of 1.3 percent in April last year, according to official data released today.
Meanwhile, the IIP growth rate for March this year has been revised to 3.4 per cent from the provisional estimates of 2.5 per cent released last month.
The industrial growth in 2012-13 has also been revised slightly upwards to 1.1 per cent from provisional estimates of 1 per cent released in May.
IIP growth in 2011-12 was 2.9 percent. Manufacturing sector, which constitutes over 75 per cent of the index, grew by meagre 2.8 per cent in April against a decline in the output by 1.8 per cent in the year-ago month.
Power generation grew by just 0.7 per cent in April this year compared to a growth of 4.6 per cent in same month last year. The mining sector output contracted by 3 per cent in Aprilthis year compared to a decline in the production by 2.8 percent in April 2012.
The capital goods output saw a growth of just one per cent in April this year compared to a decline in production by 21.5 per cent in the year-ago period. Overall, 13 out of the 22 industry groups in manufacturing sector have shown positive growth during April.
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