During the week inflation, based on the wholesale price index (WPI) fell by 0.28 percentage points to 7.85% (provisional) from 8.13 per cent (p) in the previous week. In comparison, annual inflation was at 4.40 per cent during the corresponding week of last year.

Inflation has been sliding down ever since it touched a 163-week high of 8.85 per cent in the first week of November as prices of food articles started moving southwards. However, the decline would only mean that the prices of food articles, particularly vegetables and edible oils, have started easing from its previous highs.

In the present week, vegetables prices eased by eight per cent while edible oils were cheaper by about one per cent. The index for "all commodities" (base:1981-82=100) during the week declined by 0.1 per cent to358.5 (p) against 358.9 (p) in the previous week.

However, inflation based on consumer price index for industrial workers (CPI-IW) ruled at a record high of 18.6 per cent in October compared to just eight per cent on WPI in the same month. Meanwhile, the inflation based on the final index for the week ended October three, the latest available, stood at 8.3 per cent against 8.2 per cent estimated provisionally.