NEW DELHI (Commodity Online) : India’s food inflation based on the wholesale price index eased for the second week in succession to 9.03 percent from 9.90 percent.
According to official figures, country’s food inflation fell to 9.03 per cent for the week ended August 6, even as the price of all items barring pulses rose on an annual basis.
The rate of price rise of food items was 14.51 per cent in the first week of August, 2010.
The primary articles index, which has 20.12 percent weight in the wholesale price index, also rose at a slower pace of 11.64 percent for the week under review as compared to 12.22 percent in the previous week, according to data released by the commerce and industry ministry.
Price of pulses became cheaper by 5.63 per cent year-on-year during the week under review. However, all other items continued to remain expensive.
Onions were 37.62 per cent more expensive on an annual basis during the week ended August 6, while prices of fruits went up by 26.46 per cent.
Eggs, meat and fish became dearer by 9.93 per cent and the price of milk was up 9.76 per cent year-on-year.
Cereals and vegetables were up by 6.23 per cent and 2.59 per cent, respectively, while potato prices climbed by 7.22 per cent.
The fall in food inflation numbers could be attributed to a moderation in the rate of price rise of some of the items on a week-on-week basis, even though they continued to grow.
In the previous week ended July 30, the rate of price rise of items like vegetables, potatoes, milk and egg, meat and fish was more on an annual basis in comparison to the week under review.
The decline could also be attributed to the high inflation figure of over 14 per cent for the corresponding year-ago period, a phenomenon dubbed the 'high base effect' in economic parlance.
