Annual food inflation rises to 13.7%

NEW DELHI: India's annual food inflation, based on wholesale prices, moved up to 13.68% for the week ended Oct 31 from 13.39% for the week


before, as per official data released Thursday.

The 52-week average prices of onions were higher by as much as 33.4% and potatoes became costlier by 27.9%, according to the limited data on wholesale price index released by the commerce ministry.

The statistics also showed average prices of vegetables were up 18.6%, pulses 16.83%, rice 15.95%, wheat 5.19%, fruits 7.05% and milk 7.99%.

This was the second week during which data on wholesale price index was issued as per the new guidelines approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, restricting the disclosure of index numbers to primary articles and fuels.

The full data will be available only on a monthly basis as opposed to the weekly release earlier, with Nov 14 set as the date on which the complete wholesale price index numbers will be released for the first time under these guidelines.

The Reserve Bank of India and the government have warned India's annual inflation rate based on wholesale price index for all commodities will rise to 6-6.5% by March, while the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council has pegged the rate at 6%.


MAYANKA FULORIA
PGDM 3rd