Food inflation dips to 8.84%, but no respite for common man

NEW DELHI: Food inflation dipped to a seven-week low of 8.84 per cent for the week ending September 10, but pricier kitchen staples onions, potatoes and milk continued to pinch the common man.

Food inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), stood at 9.47 per cent in the previous week. It was 16.30 per cent in the corresponding week of 2010.

As per the Commerce Department's data, except for wheat, prices of all other food items were up year-on-year during the week under review. Wheat prices slumped by 2.72 per cent on an annual basis during the week ended September 10.

Onions became 29 per cent more expensive and potatoes 13.78 per cent costlier. On an average, the vegetables basket became 12.13 per cent dearer, while the price of milk shot up by 10.38 per cent.

Fruit prices went up by 17.67 per cent year-on-year. Similarly, prices of protein-rich egg, meat and fish were up 9.28 per cent. Even the prices of pulses, which were on the decline in recent weeks, firmed up by 1.49 per cent.

The fall in inflation numbers on a weekly basis despite a rise in prices of most commodities, experts said, is due to the "high base effect", as food inflation was over 16 per cent in the same period last year.

"The high base has a big role to play in the moderation. However, it is also true that during recent weeks, there has been lot of volatility in the food inflation numbers," Crisil Chief Economist D K Joshi said.

Overall inflation in primary articles stood at 12.17 per cent for the week ended September 10, as against 13.04 per cent in the previous week.

Non-food articles, like fibres, minerals and oil seeds, recorded 17.42 per cent inflation during the seven-day period under review, down from 18.49 per cent in the previous week.