By IANS,
New Delhi : High prices of onions, fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs, meat and poultry sharply raised India’s annual food inflation based on wholesale prices to 12.13 percent for the week ended Dec 11 from 9.46 percent for the week before.
This was the third successive week of a rise in the food inflation rate, pushing it back to double-digit level, as per weekly data on official wholesale price index for primary articles and fuels released by the commerce and industry ministry Thursday.
The fresh data comes against the backdrop of a nationwide furore over high onion prices due to crop failure in the main growing regions in Maharashtra, resulting in a slew of steps such as a ban on export of the bulb and zero customs duty on its imports.
Both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee have expressed major concern over the high price line and have assured that the annual inflation rate will fall to around 5 percent by the end of this fiscal.
“We made all efforts to reduce inflation and will continue them. By March next year, inflation is expected to settle at 5.5 percent,” the prime minister said in his address at the 83rd Congress plenary here Monday.
The following are the yearly rise and fall in prices of some main commodities that form the sub-index for food articles:
Onions: 33.48 percent
Vegetables: 15.54 percent
Fruits: 20.15 percent
Potatoes: (-)27.99 percent
Milk: 17.83 percent
Eggs, meat, fish: 19.35 percent
Cereals: (-)0.35 percent
Rice: 1.4 percent
Wheat: (-)5.14 percent
Pulses: (-)10.77 percent
Just a week ago, the central bank, in its mid-quarter review of its monetary policy, kept almost all rates intact, while lowering the amount banks have to retain in the form of bonds, gold and cash to ease liquidity in the system.
The move indicated that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was expecting the inflation rate to temper and wanted to make more credit available to industry to ensure that growth does not suffer for want of funds.
RBI Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn Wednesday hinted at some tightening of monetary policy, as inflation was not easing as desired. “Inflation is not easing as we would like it to be. Upside risks are still high,” he had said.