Food inflation at four-and-a-half-month high of 9.90 pc

New Delhi, Aug 11 (PTI) Food inflation surged to a four-
and-half month high of 9.90 per cent during the week ended
July 30 on the back of costlier onions, fruits, vegetables and
protein-based items.
Food inflation, as measured by Wholesale Price Index
(WPI), stood at 8.04 per cent in the previous week. The rate
of price rise in food items was recorded at 16.45 per cent in
the last week of July, 2010.
As per data released by the government on Thursday,
prices of onions went up by 36.62 per cent year-on-year, while
fruits became 16.49 per cent more expensive.
During the week under review, vegetables overall became
dearer by 14.61 per cent and prices of eggs, meat and fish
were up by 13.44 per cent on an annual basis.
In addition, cereal prices went up by 6.22 per cent,
potatoes by 10.85 per cent and milk by 10.38 per cent.
However, pulses became cheaper by almost 6 per cent on an
annual basis.
The latest numbers are likely to put further pressure on
the government and the Reserve Bank, who have been battling
the high rate of price rise over a period of of one-and-a-half
years.
This is the highest rate of price rise in food items
since the week ended March 12, when food inflation stood at
10.05 per cent.
Overall, primary articles recorded inflation of 12.22 per
cent for the week ended July 30, up from 10.99 per cent in
the previous week. Primary articles have a share of over 20
per cent in the WPI.
However, inflation in non-food articles, which include
fibres, oil seeds and minerals, fell to 15.05 per cent from
15.60 per cent in the previous week.
Meanwhile, fuel and power inflation stood at 12.19 per
cent for the week ended July 30, marginally up from 12.12 per
cent in the week ended July 23.
Food inflation was in double digits for most of 2010, but
had started to moderate since March this year.
It fell to a 20-month low of 7.33 per cent in mid-July,
but the rate of price rise of food items has been on the rise
ever since.
Headline inflation stood at 9.44 per cent in June. The
RBI has already hiked interest rates 11 times since March,
2010, to tame demand and curb inflation.
In its Economic Outlook for 2011-12 released earlier this
month, the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council
projected headline inflation to remain high at around 9 per
cent till October. The rate of price rise will ease from
November, declining to around 6.5 per cent by March 2012, it
said.
The report also said that while pressure from food
inflation has fallen in recent months, the rate of price rice
still remains quite high, with the possibility of a further
surge in coming months.
Earlier this week, the government informed the Parliament
that demand-supply mismatches were responsible for the current
inflationary situation in the country.