Food inflation back above 10%...Fuel inflation ~15%

The annual rate of inflation in the food space increased in the second week of October while inflation in the fuel group also edged up, data released by the Government showed on Thursday. Annual inflation in the Food Articles group rose to 10.60% in the week ended October 8 from 9.32% in the preceding week, the Commerce & Industry Ministry said in a statement. It was at 15.72% in the corresponding period of last year. Inflation in the Primary Articles group increased to 11.18% in the week under review, from 10.60% in the week ended October 1, according to the Commerce Ministry statement. It was at 19.03% in the year-ago period. Inflation in the Fuel & Power group rose to 15.17% in the week ended October 8 from 15.10% in the previous week, the Government data showed. It was at 11.14% in the comparable week of the previous year. Inflation in the Non-Food Articles space declined to 8.51% in the week under review from 9.59% in the previous week, the Government data showed today. It was at 27.17% in the same period a year
earlier.



Inflation in the Minerals group dropped to 19.72% in the week ended October 8 from 21.05% in the week ended October 1, according to the Commerce Ministry data. Inflation in this group stood at 28.73% in the year-ago period. On an annual basis, onions turned cheaper by ~11% in the week under consideration, vegetable prices were up ~17.5% on an annual basis. Fruits turned costlier by ~12.4% year over year, while Milk prices increased ~10.8% and Egg, Meat & Fish became pricey by ~14.10% compared to the year-ago period. Potato prices were up ~1.7% on an annual basis while Cereal prices went up by ~4.7% year over year. Prices of Pulses rose by ~7.4%. Annual inflation in Rice stood at ~4.4% while Wheat prices were flat. In the Non-Food category, prices of Fibres jumped by ~12.8% year-on-year while that of Oilseeds rose by 8.6% from a year ago. In Fuel category, LPG prices are up ~14.3%, petrol by ~29.2% and diesel by ~9.3%.