NEW DELHI, July 13: The annual rate of inflation moved up slightly to close the week ended June 28 at 5.91 per cent, but is likely to come down sharply next week.

Inflation might fall below five per cent next week as the wholesale price index (WPI) had moved sharply in the corresponding week last year due to the increase in petroleum prices.

The annual inflation (provisional), calculated on a point-to-point basis, went up by 0.1 percentage points to 5.91 per cent in the reference week from 5.81 per cent the week before.

The rate of inflation, which was at 4.2 per cent during the corresponding week last year, jumped to 5.8 per cent owing to the increase in petroleum prices.

Meanwhile, the official WPI for `all commodities' (base 1981-82=100) recorded a 0.1 per cent rise 324.5 (provisional) during the week against 324.4 (provisional) the week before.

The annual rate of inflation based on the final index for the week ended May 3, 1997, stood at 6.0 per cent, the same as the inflation for the week based on provisional index.

Compared with the 5.91 per cent inflation in all commodities, the inflation in `primary articles' was only 4.14 per cent, while inflation in `manufactured products' was 4.70 per cent.

The increase in the index for the other major group -- fuel, power, light and lubricants -- was much higher at 18.25 per cent during the year. The rate of price rise based on the consumer price index for industrial workers (CPI-IW) also fell from 9.3 per cent in April to 7.32 per cent in may when WPI-based inflation was six per cent.

During the week, among the various major groups, the index for primary articles rose by 0.3 per cent to 334.6 from 333.7, fuel, power, light and lubricants remained unchanged at its previous week's level and manufactured products declined by marginally.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.