Consumer Price Index jumps 1.2% in Sep

At the all-India level,the CPI for ‘food,beverages and tobacco’ went up by 1.34 per cent to 113.2 points in September from 111.7 points in the previous month.

The main increase was seen in the prices of vegetables,with the index rising by 3.44 per cent month-on-month to 117.3 points,while the indices for milk and milk products went up by over 2.07 per cent to 118.6 points.

Similarly,the index for oils and fats went up by 1.51 per cent to 121.3 points.

Pulses prices also went up by 1.73 per cent to 100.1 points,as per the index,while eggs,meat and fish were up 1.76 per cent to 115.6 points in September in comparison to August.

Prices in the ‘fuel and light’ segment rose by 1.46 per cent in September vis-a-vis the previous month,with the index inching up to 118.1 points from 116.4 points in August.

The rise in the fuel index could be attributed to the Rs 3 per litre hike of petrol prises announced by oil marketing companies in mid-September.

In September,the CPI for ‘clothing,bedding and footwear’ stood at 119.4 points on an all-India basis,as against 117.7 points in August,an increase of 1.44 per cent.

The index for ‘Housing’ was up 1.12 per cent month-on-month at 108.8 points in September,up from 107.6 points in August.

This is the fourth month that housing prices have been factored into the CPI data. However,the data was compiled only for urban areas.

The government had earlier said that “house rent is negligible for the rural areas” and as such,only urban areas have been taken into account for the index on housing.

The price of miscellaneous items rose by 1.09 per cent in September vis-a-vis August,as per the CPI data,with the index for this segment rising to 111.5 points on a countrywide basis in the month under review from 110.3 points in the previous month.

Experts,however,said the index cannot be used yet as a measurement of retail inflation.

“Nothing much significant could be read from the monthly CPI data. It needs time to stabilise,” Crisil Chief Economist D K Joshi said.

He said retail price inflation can only be calculated on the basis of the CPI data from next year.

“The government began releasing the nationwide CPI from January this year. It will be only from 2012 that they will be able to calculate the exact retail inflation numbers as the data needs one full year before it stabilises,” Joshi said.

The general indices for rural and urban consumers stood at 114.6 points and 111.1 points,respectively,in September.

In August,they were recorded at 113.1 points and 109.8 points,respectively,for rural and urban consumers.

Meanwhile,the overall July CPI reading has been revised marginally upward to 110.5 points from the provisional estimate of 110.4 points.

Experts also said the movement in the CPI on a month-on-month basis was too small to make any significant statistical suggestions.

The new nationwide CPI launched earlier this year was introduced to reflect the actual movement of prices at the micro-level and help policymakers like the RBI in better framing of decisions.

With the passage of time,the government expects it to supersede the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) as the benchmark for measurement of inflation.

Inflation,as measured by the WPI,stood at 9.72 per cent in August.

At the time of unveiling the new CPI earlier this year,the government had said it would continue the practice of giving the figures in the present form without quoting the inflation rate for one year.

These consumer indices include five major groups – food,beverages and tobacco; fuel and light; housing; clothing,bedding and footwear; and miscellaneous items.