Friday, May 6 2005 12:27 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Inflation rose to 5.91 per cent during the week ended April 23 as vegetables, fruits, edible oil, industrial fuel and manufactured products became costlier.

After remaining static at 5.64 per cent during the week ended April 16, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) based inflation rose despite efforts by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Government to keep prices stable.

Inflation was at 4.32 per cent during the same period last year.

WPI was up by 0.4 per cent to 191.9 points during the week from 191.2 a week ago, mainly due to a rise in prices of primary articles by 0.8 per cent, fuel by 0.2 per cent and manufacturing by 0.2 per cent.

Government revised upwards inflation to 5.06 per cent during the week ended February 26 from the provisional figure of 4.95 per cent while WPI stood corrected at 188.9 points against the provisional level of 188.7 points.

Although the RBI has estimated inflation to be 5-5.5 per cent during the current financial year, it had cautioned against oil price pressures.

During the discussion on Finance bill, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had sought to allay fears that increase in excise duties on petroleum products would lead to rise in prices, saying it was "revenue-neutral".

During the week under review, world oil prices hovered over $ 55 a barrel on concerns that there might be a shortage of gasoline during the northern hemisphere summer amidst the refinery problems in the US.