What Does Inflation Mean?

The rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising, and, subsequently,
purchasing power is falling. Central banks attempt to stop severe inflation, along with severe deflation, in
an attempt to keep the excessive growth of prices to a minimum

NEW DELHI: Food inflation soared to 17.05 per cent for the week ended January
22, rising for the second straight week, on the back of costlier vegetables, fruits
and milk.

Food inflation rose by 1.48 percentage points from 15.57 per cent in the previous
week. The food inflation last year had stood at 20.56 per cent.

On an annual basis, onion prices rose by 130.41 per cent in the third week of
January, although they have moderated considerably in the recent days.

Vegetables as a whole have became dearer by 77.05 per cent on an annual basis as
potato prices rose by 6.22 per cent.

Fruits and milk became costlier by 15.47 per cent and 11.41 per cent on a year on
year basis respectively, data released by the government showed.

In the non-food items, fuel inflation rose by 0.66 per cent during the week after the
oil marketing companies raised petrol prices by about Rs 2.50 a litre.

"Fuel and Power" category showed an increase of 11.61 per cent year-on-year.

The uptick in latest food inflation figure is likely to put further pressure on the
government grappling with expensive food commodities and a slowing industrial
growth that dipped to the 18-month low of 2.7 per cent for November.

The overall inflation for December rose to 8.43 per cent, from 7.48 per cent in the
previous month.

The RBI has projected the headline inflation to be at 7 per cent by March end.

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 Consumer Price Index - CPI
What Does Consumer Price Index - CPI Mean?
A measure that examines the weighted average of prices of a basket of consumer
goods and services, such as transportation, food and medical care. The CPI is
calculated by taking price changes for each item in the predetermined basket of goods
and averaging them; the goods are weighted according to their importance. Changes in
CPI are used to assess price changes associated with the cost of living.

What Does Deflation Mean?

A general decline in prices, often caused by a reduction in the supply of money or

credit. Deflation can be caused also by a decrease in government, personal or
investment spending. The opposite of inflation, deflation has the side effect of increased
unemployment since there is a lower level of demand in the economy, which can lead to
an economic depression. Central banks attempt to stop severe deflation, along with
severe inflation, in an attempt to keep the excessive drop in prices to a minimum.

Declining prices, if they persist, generally create a vicious spiral of negatives such as
falling profits,  closing factories, shrinking employment and incomes, and
increasing defaults on loans by companies and individuals. To counter deflation, the
Federal Reserve (the Fed) can use monetary policy to increase the money supply and
deliberately induce rising prices, causing inflation. Rising prices provide an essential
lubricant for any sustained recovery because businesses increase profits and take
some of the depressive pressures off wages and debtors of every kind. 

Inflation can be controlled by adopting following measures:-

(A). Monetary measures: Monetary measures relate to the control in the supply and
circulation of money in the country.
1. Bank rate policy: In case of inflation, the bank rate is increased; the supply of
money is controlled.
2. Open market operation: During inflation, the central bank sells govt. securities
and price bonds in the open market in order to contract the supply of money.
3. Variable reserve ratio: In order to control inflation, the central bank increases
the reservation.
4. Credit Rationing: When there is inflationary pressure, the state bank adopts the
policy of credit rationing.
(B). Fiscal Measures: Measures in connection with public borrowing, public
expenditures and public revenues are called fiscal measures.
1. Public Borrowing: During inflation, increase the public borrowing, during
deflation, decrease in public borrowing.
2. Public Revenues: In order to control inflation, the increase in public revenues by
the Govt.
3. Public expenditures: Inflation is also controlled by decreasing the public
expenditures by the Govt.
(C). Realistic Measures:
1. Increase the supply of goods and services: When the supply of goods and
services is increased, the prices will come down.
2. Population planning: Control on population by adopting different measures of
family planning will reduce the demand and finally prices will be controlled.
3. Price control policy: The govt. should adopt strict price control policy against
the profiteers and hoarders.
4. Economic Planning: Effective economic planning is necessary to control the
inflation in the country.

Colgate-Palmolive India emphasizes a lot on recruiting people with the right profiles.
The competencies required in a candidate are:
1. Leadership Competencies- such as, good interpersonal skills, team leading skills,
'can-do' attitude
2. Functional Competencies- such as, strong analytical skills, good functional
knowledge, result orientation, innovation to bring continuous improvement.
We at Colgate-Palmolive believe that people are among our most important assets. Hence, there is a lot of
emphasis on recruiting the right profile. We essentially look for:

 Functional Competencies
 Leadership Competencies

We want people with: a firm grounding in functional knowledge, strong analytical skills, a drive to achieve
results and the business acumen to bring about continuous improvement.

Along with functional competencies, we look for leadership competencies which enable people to have a long
term perspective and people who can build strong teams and empower them to achieve long term plans.

Above all, we look for people who exhibit passion at work, display a 'can do' attitude and possess high levels
of energy.