Food price inflation edges up to 16.44 per cent

The annual rate of inflation based on the wholesale price index of food articles edged up to 16.44 per cent during the week ended 1 May 2010 from 16.04 per cent in the previous week.

The spike in inflation was due mainly to higher prices of tea (5 per cent), fruits and vegetables and fish-inland (2 per cent each) and urad, arhar, masur and condiments and spices (1 per cent each).

Food price inflation stood at 8.18 per cent in the comparable week a year ago (week ended 2 May 2009).

The build-up of food price inflation so far during the financial year (beginning 1 April 2010) was higher at 2.33 per cent during the week under review against 1.74 per cent in the previous week but lower than the 3.44 per cent level reached during the corresponding week of the previous year.

The index for the 'food articles' group rose 0.6 per cent to 294.0 (provisional) from 292.3 (provisional) in the previous week due to higher prices of tea (5 per cent), fruits and vegetables and fish-inland (2 per cent each) and urad, arhar, masur and condiments and spices (1 per cent each).  However, the prices of barley (-2 per cent) and maize, ragi and jowar (-1 per cent each) declined.

The inflation rate based on the wholesale price index of non-food articles spurted to 21.24 per cent during the week ended 1 May 2010 from 11.04 during the previous week and 2.41 per cent in the comparable week of the previous year.