Food inflation at 10.63% for week ended Nov 5

New Delhi, Nov 17: Food inflation eased to 10.63 percent for the week ended 5 November even as prices of agricultural items, barring onions and wheat, continued to rise on an annual basis.

Food inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), stood at 11.81 percent in the previous week ended 29 October. The rate of price rise of food items stood at 11.41 percent in the corresponding week of the previous year.

As per data released by the government today, onions became cheaper by 22.89 percent year-on-year, while wheat price were down 3.63 percent.

However, all other items became more expensive on an annual basis during the week under review.

While vegetables became 27.26 percent costlier, pulses grew dearer by 14.44 percent, milk by 10.74 percent and eggs, meat and fish by 11.73 percent.

Fruits also became 5.99 percent more expensive on an annual basis, while cereal prices were up 3.53 percent.

Inflation in the overall primary articles category stood at 10.39 percent during the week ended 5 November, as against 11.43 percent in the previous week. Primary articles have
over 20 percent weight in the wholesale price index.

Inflation in non-food articles, including fibres, oilseeds and minerals, was recorded at 5.33 percent during the week under review, as against 6.41 percent in the week ended 29 October.

Fuel and power inflation stood at 15.49 percent during the week ended 5 November, as compared to 14.50 percent in the previous week.

The continued rise in food prices is likely to exert further pressure on the government and the Reserve Bank to tackle the situation expeditiously.

Concerned over the inflationary spiral, the government had yesterday said it is taking steps to remove supply bottlenecks and expects prices to ease from December.

“We are taking care to remove the supply constraints and I do hope from the month of December, inflation pressure would be moderate," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said yesterday.

Headline inflation, which also factors in manufactured items, has been above the 9 percent-mark since December, 2010. It stood at 9.73 percent in September this year.

The RBI has hiked interest rates 13 times since March 2010 to tame demand and curb inflation.

In its second quarterly review of the monetary policy last month, the apex bank said it expects inflation to remain elevated till December on account of the demand-supply
mismatch, before moderating to 7 percent by March 2012.

PTI