Friday, October 7 2005 17:43 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Inflation inched up to 3.97 per cent during the week ended September 24 from 3.75 per cent a week ago, mainly due to increase in the prices of industrial fuel and manufactured products even though food items became cheaper.

Though inflation neared 4 per cent during the week, it was still much lower than 7.33 per cent a year ago.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram has stated last week that inflation was expected to be within 'tolerable limits' even though there would be some negative impact of hike in domestic fuel prices.

During the week, global crude oil prices moderated a bit and hovered around 64-65 dollars a barrel as Hurricane Rita weakened and the expectation of damage to refinery capacity in the US Gulf receded.

However, domestic prices were showing signs of firming up due to the delayed impact of fuel price hike on September 6, as also for the seasonal factors and festival demands.

The point-to-point Wholesale Price Index (WPI) stood unchanged at previous week's level of 196.5 points although the fuel and manufactured products group indices were up by 0.2 per cent each. WPI was at 189 points a year ago.

The Government revised upward the inflation figure to 4.16 per cent for the week ended July 30 from provisional 3.84 per cent, while the WPI stood corrected at 195.1 points as against the earlier estimate of 194.5 points.