Food inflation falls to 7.58%, lowest since March 2009

During the week, pulse prices were down 7.67% from the same week in 2010. Prices of other food items, though, continued to rise.

Year-on-year, onion prices rose 19.68%, fruits 15.84%, milk 10.76% and eggs, meat and fish 8%. Prices of cereals and vegetables rose 4.77% and 4.31%, respectively.

Inflation of primary articles stood at 11.13% during the week, down from 11.58% in the previous week. Primary articles have a share of over 20% in the wholesale price index.

During the last four reporting weeks, food inflation fell from 9.13% to 7.61% before rising to 8.31%. Analysts have expressed concern about the fluctuations in food inflation.

Ramesh Chand, director, National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, told FE that fluctuating prices will make it difficult for the government to keep the food inflation graph down.

Falling food inflation offers some relief for the government which has faced criticism for the price rise. On Wednesday, the finance minister had expressed hope that inflation could come down to 6-7% by the end of the financial year in March.

On Thursday, he called the trend “encouraging”, adding that factors beyond the government's control could have some adverse impact.

As FE recently reported, comfortable stocks and less-than harsh summer months moderated

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