Even as prices continued to rise, food inflation as measured by the wholesale price index for the week ended November 12 fell to 9.01%, compared with 10.63% in the previous week and 11.38% in the same week last year.
According to commerce ministry data, prices of onions, potatoes and wheat fell 32.85%, 7.23% and 3.09% respectively on an annual basis while vegetables rose 17.66%, pulses 14.28%, milk 10.46%, fruits 4.59%, cereals 2.86% and eggs, meat and fish 11.98%.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee expressed optimism: ?If these trends continue for the next two weeks, I hope there will be moderation on inflation and that it will have an impact on the annual inflation figures,? he said. Onion prices are expected to remain stable or fall as bumper kharif crop from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka enters the market, on top of stocks from the previous crop season.
Experts cited the impact of the ‘base effect’ and falling demand after the festive season to the decline in the inflation numbers.
?Off-season demand for vegetables, post-harvest losses and inefficient storage mechanism for perishable commodities have contributed to the rise in prices of vegetables, fruits and protein-rich items which would keep food inflation high in months to come,? said PK Joshi, senior programme coordinator, International Food Policy Research Institute.
Economist and former union minister YK Alagh had recently said: ?The food consumption basket is getting increasingly diversified and though cereals still dominate, this dominance is being increasingly eroded by rising expenditure on fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs, meat and fish, which together is also referred to as the high-value segment.?