Inflation down to 8.23%

• Inflation declined marginally to 8.23 per cent in January from 8.43 per cent in the previous month, as prices of certain commodities like wheat, pulses and sugar eased, although essential items like onion and other vegetables continue to remain dearer.
• The headline inflation, based on wholesale prices, has remained above 8 per cent—mark since January 2010.
• The fall in inflation has been mainly on account of declining prices of sugar (down 14.99 per cent), pulses (12.78 per cent), wheat (4.94 per cent) and potato (1.21 per cent).
• However, vegetable and fruits continued to remain expensive. On an annual basis, vegetable prices rose by 65 per cent, and onion prices nearly doubled. Also, fruits became costly by 15.01 per cent and egg, meat and fish by 15.09 per cent.
• Prices of fuel and power shot up by 11.41 per cent, with petrol rising 27.37 per cent on an year-on-year basis
• However, among manufactured items, sugar prices fell by 15 per cent, while edible oils turned costlier by 7.16 per cent.
• The inflation number for November has also been revised upwards to 8.08 per cent from 7.48 per cent, according to government data released on Monday.
• It may be recalled, the food inflation, which accounts for over 14 per cent in the overall Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation, has remained high since December scaling up to 18.32 per cent.