India's food inflation saw a slight decline to 10.39% despite persistent high prices for essential items like vegetables, milk, and meat. This figure remains above the comfort zones set by the RBI and the government.
Despite prices of vegetables, milk, eggs, meat and poultry remaining high, India’s annual food inflation declined to 10.39 percent for the week ended Feb 19, from 11.49 percent for the week earlier, official data showed Thursday.
Limited data on the wholesale price index released by the commerce and industry ministry further showed that the index for primary articles also fell from 14.85 percent to 15.77 percent while that for fuel rose to 12.56 percent from 12.14 percent.
India’s inflation rate continues to remain sharply higher than the comfort zone of both the Reserve Bank of India’s 4-5 percent and the government, which earlier said the prices will be reined in to no more than 5 percent.
Commenting on prices earlier, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told the Lok Sabha that food prices will come down in the near term and that overall inflation will be no more than 7 percent by March-end.
“By the end of this fiscal year, inflation will be controlled. I expect the situation to improve,” he had said, replying to a debate on the motion of thanks to the president’s address.
Following are the yearly rise and fall in prices of some main commodities that form the sub-index for food articles:
Onions: (-)3.64 percent
Vegetables: 14.29 percent
Fruits: 16.34 percent
Potatoes: (-)12.66 percent
Milk: 11.07 percent
Eggs, meat, fish: 14.50 percent
Cereals: 2.01 percent
Rice: 2.38 percent
Wheat: (-)2.06 percent
Pulses: (-)5.02 percent