Food inflation down marginally to 8.96 pc

New Delhi, June 16: Food inflation went down marginally to 8.96 per cent for the week ended June 4 on the back of cheaper pulses and vegetables.

Food inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), stood at 9.01 per cent in the previous week, while it was over 21 per cent in the first week of June last year.

The latest fall, although very marginal, is likely to be seen as a silver lining by the government, which has been battling the high rate of price rise across all segments for the past few months and also had to contend with low economic growth and factory output numbers in recent months.

Headline inflation in the country stood at 9.06 per cent in May.

The Reserve Bank has already hiked its key policy rates 10 times since March, 2010, to tame demand and curb inflation.

The latest hike of 25 basis points in the short-term lending (repo) and borrowing (reverse repo) rates was announced today.

During the week under review, prices of pulses went down by over 10 per cent year-on-year, while vegetables became cheaper by 1.39 per cent. However, prices of other food items continued to move upward.

Fruits became almost 30 per cent more expensive, while milk was up 10.59 per cent. Eggs, meat and fish became dearer by 7.31 per cent on an annual basis.

The prices of onions went up by 12.17 per cent and potatoes by 1.14 per cent. Cereals were also up by 5.25 per cent.

Overall, inflation in primary articles stood at 12.86 per cent during the week under review, up from 11.52 per cent in the previous week. Primary articles have a share of 20 per cent in the overall WPI basket.

PTI