Thaindian News

New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) India’s food inflation was recorded at 7.47 percent for the week ended May 7, falling marginally from 7.7 percent in the previous week, as prices of pulses and vegetables eased, official data showed Thursday.

This is the third consecutive weekly fall in the food price index.

The fuel index, which has 14.91 percent weightage in the wholesale price index basket, fell to 12.21 percent during the week under review, compared to 12.25 percent in the previous week.

However, the fuel index is expected to spike after it factors in the Rs.5 per litre increase in price of petrol, effected on May 14.

The index of primary articles also slipped to 10.94 percent during the week under review from 11.96 percent in the previous week, according to the data released by the ministry of commerce and industry.

The following are the yearly rise and fall in prices of some main commodities that form the sub-index for food articles:

Onions: 10.53 percent

Vegetables: (-) 3.61 percent

Fruits: 30.58 percent

Potatoes: 1.99 percent

Milk: 4.65 percent

Eggs, meat, fish: 5.67 percent

Cereals: 4.79 percent

Rice: 2.51 percent

Wheat: (-) 0.06 percent

Pulses: (-) 8.87 percent

The decline in food inflation, will however, not bring much cheer to policy makers as inflation has now spread to non-food items like manufacturing goods, as admitted by the Reserve Bank of India in its annual monetary statement.

The RBI had said that it will continue to focus on bringing down inflation, even if it means sacrificing growth in the short-run.