Food Inflation stood at Double Digit - 10.6% in the Week ended 9 October 2011

Data released by the commerce and industry ministry on 20 October 2011 showed food inflation stood at 10.6% in the week ended 8 October 2011 up from 9.32% recorded in the week ended 2 October 2011. It stood at 15.72% in the same period in 2010.

Food inflation entered double-digit territory after 20 August 2011. According to commerce ministry data, the week witnessed a broad rise in prices of vegetables, fruit and protein-based items such as egg, meat and fish.

On an annual basis, prices of vegetables rose 17.59%, fruit 12.39%, milk 10.80%, pulses 7.42%, cereals 4.73% and eggs, meat and fish 14.10%. Among food items which became cheaper were onion (11.27%) and wheat (0.18%).

Export restrictions in the form of high minimum prices and a bumper kharif production combined to increase domestic availability of onion, pulling down its price. Onion prices, which had shot up sharply, fell 11.27% in the week ended 8 October. In the previous week, onion prices had dropped 10.15%.

The index for food articles group rose by 0.4% to 200.3 due to higher prices of poultry chicken (4%), bajra (2%) and fish-inland, masur, fruits and vegetables, urad and condiments and spices (1% each). But prices of jowar and ragi (2% each) and barley, maize, fish-marine and moong (1% each) declined.