Inflation unchanged at 6.09%

Inflation remained unchanged at the previous week's level of 6.09 per cent during the week ended April 14, much above the RBI's 'self-imposed mandate' of five per cent for the current fiscal.

The high level of inflation could be gauged from the fact that it was just 3.70 per cent during the corresponding week of the last fiscal.

Surprisingly, prices of vegetables which shot up by over 23 per cent during the previous week contributing most to inflation, declined by five per cent in the week under review.

This is the first inflation data released after the Reserve Bank of India came out with its annual monetary policy, in which the central bank projected inflation to be 4-4.5 per cent in the medium term. RBI governor Y V Reddy has said five per cent inflation rate in 2007-08 was the 'self-imposed

mandate' for the bank.

RBI had projected inflation at 5-5.5 per cent for 2006-07, which was belied by figures in later part of the year though average inflation was within its tolerance level.

However, the figures for the week during which RBI released its credit policy would be known two weeks after because of the time lag.

If inflation continues to remain above six per cent, RBI might have to take further monetary tightening measures, which it refrained from in its annual policy, analysts said.

Besides vegetables, prices of fruits, urad, coconut oil, naphtha, brass sheets and strips pulled down inflation. But this was offset by rise in prices of non-vegetarian food items, gram, groundnut oil, cotton seed oil and ferro silicon.

Prices of other products moved in a narrow range.