The new Consumer Price Index (CPI) introduced earlier this year rose marginally to 107 points in May, up from 106 points in April. Food items such as milk, tobacco, fuel and clothing showed an upward trend during the latest reported month.
While the new series, unveiled in January, is calculated using a base of 100 for the year 2010, the exact inflation figures would only be released from next year.
The indices for a number of major items — cereals, pulses, protein-based items and fruits — remained stable during May. As a result, on an overall basis, the ‘food, beverages and tobacco' group of the Index stood at 107 points, the same level as in April. ‘Fuel and light' was up at 110 points, as against 108 in April. ‘Clothing, bedding and footwear' stood at 114 points on an all-India basis, as against 112 .
According to the data released by the Government, the general indices for rural and urban consumers in May stood at 109 and 105 points respectively. In April, while the overall CPI stood at 106 points, the indices for rural and urban consumers were recorded at 108 and 105 points respectively.
The new CPI is intended to reflect the actual movement of prices at the micro-level and help policymakers like the RBI in better framing of decisions.
Releasing the new series, the Government had earlier said it would continue the practice of giving figures in the present form without quoting the inflation rate for one year, “till the series gets stabilised” and adequate timely receipt of price data was achieved.
The new index covers five major groups — food, beverages and tobacco; fuel and light; housing; clothing, bedding and footwear and miscellaneous items.