Food inflation soars on costlier vegetable prices

Annual rate of inflation in the Food Articles space rose sharply in the second week of this month, putting further pressure on policymakers to check the spiraling prices of essential food commodities. Inflation in the Food Articles group climbed to 12.13% in the week ended December 11 from 9.46% in the previous week, the Union Commerce & Industry said. This was the third instance of an increase in food inflation on a weekly basis after easing for seven consecutive weeks. Inflation in the food articles space was at 21.13% in the year-ago period.



At 15.54%, inflation continues to be high for the Vegetables group. Onion prices were up more than 33% even as Potatoes turned cheaper by 28%. Inflation in Fruits and Milk is also high at about 20% and 18%, respectively. On the other hand, prices of Cereals and Pulses are actually falling. Inflation for the Non-Food Articles group and Minerals group stood at 22.4% and 26.7%, respectively.

Inflation in the Primary Articles group increased to 15.35% in the week under review from 13.25% in the week ended December 4, the Government data showed. Inflation in the Primary Articles space was at 18.21% in the comparable period last year. Inflation in the Fuel & Power group inched higher to 10.74% in the week ended December 11 from 10.67% in the week ended December 4. Inflation in the Fuel & Power space was at 4.17% in the Dec. 12, 2009.

India's benchmark WPI inflation rate slowed in November from the year-ago period due to moderation in prices across key categories, data released by the Government showed on Dec. 14. The point-to-point inflation, as measured by the WPI, came in at 7.48% in November as against 8.58% in the previous month. The figure was in line with consensus estimates of 7.5%. Meanwhile, the Government revised upwards September's final WPI inflation rate to 8.93% from the preliminary projection of 8.63%.