Commodity Online
NEW DELHI : A joint report by the FAO and OECD on Friday said India has been better off in managing food inflation compared to several other developing countries in 2007-08

Prices of food articles rose by 5.8 percent in India, the lowest increase among 15 developing countries for the period ending February 2007-08, the report said.

Food prices showed the highest increase at 25.6 percent in Sri Lanka, followed by Kenya at 24.6 percent and China 23.3 percent, the report entitled 'Agriculture Outlook 2008' said.

A record food grain production estimates at 227.32 million tons during 2007-08, against 217.28 million tons last year has helped India keep food inflation under control, experts said.

However, recent negative yield shocks in key food commodities like pulses and oilseeds have contributed to the price increase, they said, adding that global price rise had a spill-over affect on domestic rates as well.

However, India's food inflation remains higher than the developed countries like the US and Japan during the review period, the report said.

Rate of rise in food prices stood at 1.4 percent in Japan, at 5.1 percent in the US and at 5 percent in France, it noted.

For developed countries, where the price rise in food items is moderate and the share of food in the total consumer basket is small, the contribution of food price inflation to overall inflation is correspondingly moderate.

However, as would be expected, the impact of food price inflation on overall inflation in developing countries is much larger, the report added

Post your comment  (0)

Connect:

Post to Twitter

Post to Facebook