Dichotomy between WPI and CPI: Pranab

BANGALORE: Admitting that there was dichotomy between the Wholesale Price Index and Consumer Price Index, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday termed the condition as "worrisome".

"This dichotomy is worrisome, because we are concerned with the high prices of essential commodities and food articles," Mukherjee told reporters here.

"In the WPI, the weightage of food article is 16, but in the CPI, there are four indices", he said.

In the four price index of the CPI, food articles have seen weightage increase to 56 per cent from 48 per cent. "Therefore there is a dichotomy on the price front due to negative WPI and CPI moving up", he said.

Mukherjee admitted there was a problem on the food front, noting that "before the last week, the WPI was negative. This is no satisfaction to the common man, because the CPI is moving up".

To a question on tight money policy, he said he did not favour tightening noose on easy credit at this point as it would impact economic growth.