FM hopes declining food inflation trend to continue

NEW DELHI: With food inflation sliding for the fourth week in a row, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said he expected the trend to continue, but admitted that prices are not falling fast enough.

"I hope this (declining trend of food inflation) will continue....Therefore, the basic point which you can derive is that though the coming down is slow, but as it is on year-on-year basis... because this time last year also base was reasonably high, that it why it is coming like that," Mukherjee told reporters in Parliament House premises.

Food inflation fell to 12.30 per cent during the week ended October 30 from 12.85 per cent in the previous week. Besides, the larger primary articles inflation also declined to 14.87 per cent from 15.43 per cent.

However, inflation for Fuel and related items stayed intact at 10.67 per cent.

Price rise is one of the major issues on which the opposition parties have tried to corner the government in and outside Parliament.

In the on-going winter session of Parliament, BJP and other opposition parties would raise the issue of increase in prices of petro products and essential commodities.

As such, the fall in these inflation numbers would come as some relief to the government.