Soft crude prices bring respite
By TNN |
Highlights
NEW DELHI: Inflation rose to a two-year high to 6.12% driven by rise in prices of manufactured products and some pulses. FM P Chidambaram said:
���Among food items, the ones that are causing some concern are urad, tea, tomatoes, coconut and arhar. Among manufactured products, there is a rise in small steel products and some edible oils. The finance ministry is in touch with the RBI and the ministry of agriculture���.
While wheat prices have gone up by 17.4%, rice has shown a moderate hike of 5.3%. Pulses have shot up by a whopping 27.5%. Fruits and vegetables, on the other hand, have increased by 9.5%. Prices of non-ferrous metals ��� including copper, zinc and nickel ��� have shown a sharp hike of 38.3% leading to increase in input costs, cement has gone up by 13.4%. Sugar prices have bucked the trend and registered a decline of 7.3%. Pronab Sen, principal advisor to the PM, said the land put to wheat has gone up sharply, at the cost of land use for pulses.
There is, however, a respite in crude oil prices, which have been relatively soft in the past few weeks. Pressure is building up for a fuel price cut, but it may not happen immediately as the government will want to see prices stabilise at $50 a barrel for some time. ���We do not foresee a change in the interest rates as of now.
We will wait and watch the various monetary and fiscal measures,��� said Oriental Bank of Commerce chairman KN Prithviraj. Saumitra Chaudhury, member, Economic Advisory Council to the PM, told ET that while monetary measures seem to be in place, customs duty on manufactured products like non-ferrous metals may be cut.
���Among food items, the ones that are causing some concern are urad, tea, tomatoes, coconut and arhar. Among manufactured products, there is a rise in small steel products and some edible oils. The finance ministry is in touch with the RBI and the ministry of agriculture���.
While wheat prices have gone up by 17.4%, rice has shown a moderate hike of 5.3%. Pulses have shot up by a whopping 27.5%. Fruits and vegetables, on the other hand, have increased by 9.5%. Prices of non-ferrous metals ��� including copper, zinc and nickel ��� have shown a sharp hike of 38.3% leading to increase in input costs, cement has gone up by 13.4%. Sugar prices have bucked the trend and registered a decline of 7.3%. Pronab Sen, principal advisor to the PM, said the land put to wheat has gone up sharply, at the cost of land use for pulses.
There is, however, a respite in crude oil prices, which have been relatively soft in the past few weeks. Pressure is building up for a fuel price cut, but it may not happen immediately as the government will want to see prices stabilise at $50 a barrel for some time. ���We do not foresee a change in the interest rates as of now.
We will wait and watch the various monetary and fiscal measures,��� said Oriental Bank of Commerce chairman KN Prithviraj. Saumitra Chaudhury, member, Economic Advisory Council to the PM, told ET that while monetary measures seem to be in place, customs duty on manufactured products like non-ferrous metals may be cut.
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