Inflation at 5.64 pct, up for second week

Rising prices of food items, jet fuel and alcohol pushed up inflation marginally for the second consecutive week, to 5.64 per cent. Inflation for the week ended January 17 inched up by 0.04 per cent from 5.6 per cent a week ago, even as beer and alcohol became dearer by 25 per cent. It was 4.45 per cent a year ago. Some of the food items that became expensive during the week due to the eight-day truckers' strike include maize, bajra, jowar, rice, sugar and gur. The truckers' strike, which began on January 5, restricted the movement of goods, leading to shortage and price rise. Among manufactured items, prices of caustic soda, zinc and sacking bags became expensive during the week. In the fuel goods category, jet fuel and furnace oil became dearer by 4 per cent and one per cent, respectively. While the prices of fruit and vegetables remained unchanged during the week, those of cement and iron and steel declined marginally. Inflation, which declined for ten consecutive weeks, rose marginally for the week ended January 10 to 5.6 per cent. Inflation for the week ended November 22 was revised downwards to 8.26 per cent from 8.40 per cent in the provisional estimates.