The weak monsoon this year will jack up prices of primary articles further, even as the country’s inflation is likely to be in negative territory for the next three months, a report says.

The weak monsoon will exert further pressure on prices of primary articles, which are already high, as this year’s deficient rain in most parts of the country, especially in North-East and North-West India, is a major cause for concern.

“Rainfall deficiency has been all the more pronounced over North East and North West India — both important from the point of view of foodgrain production,” Edelweiss Securities said in a research report.

Though a large buffer stock level is a silver lining, “adverse monsoon effects on agro-production and an upsurge in agro-prices typically have knock-on effects on industrial prices as well”, the report added.

Week-on-week growth in the primary articles’ index stood at 0.4 per cent, caused by higher prices of food items.

Fuel prices remained unchanged, while prices of manufactured products fell 0.1 per cent, with food products and paper and paper staff leading the fall.

Despite a sharp fall in the WPI, driven by decline in prices of industrial commodities (especially fuel and metal), consumer price index (CPI) inflation remained in or around double digits.