Click to play videoNew Delhi: If you thought your monthly expenditure has been going up, here's the confirmation.
The annual rate of inflation on the wholesale price index surged to 6.5 per cent for the week ending January 27, the highest rate since December 15, 2004.
The annual rate of inflation continued its rally beyond the six per cent mark to stand at 6.58 per cent for the week ended January 27, the highest in more than two years, as compared to 6.11 per cent during the last week due to higher food prices.
All this could now put pressure on the RBI to hike interest rates further. The RBI had recently raised its key short-term lending rate to 7.50 per cent, its highest level in four years, to rein in on inflationary pressure.
Banks in turn had raised the interest rates on home loans by as much as one per cent. The RBI said lowering inflation to 5.0-5.5 per cent by the end of the fiscal year in March was a policy priority.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Thursday that the government was committed to moderate the rising inflation with additional steps that would take some time to bring down prices.
He said prices of various commodities have come down after fiscal measures and the RBI's decision to increase repo rate and increased provisioning for certain sectors.
The rate of inflation, calculated on a point-to-point basis, was 4.04 per cent during the corresponding week of the previous year, according to official figures issued here on Friday.
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