Food inflation inches up to 16.49%

Food inflation went up by a notch to 16.49 per cent for the week ended May 8 and analysts expect prices to remain stuck around this level until the advent of a normal monsoon.
Annual food inflation in the previous reporting week was 16.44 per cent. Analysts said food inflation would come down drastically only in the later half of the fiscal when the impact of a normal monsoon becomes visible on crops.
Fuel prices remained flat over the week, but analysts said the Cabinet’s decision to hike natural gas prices would jack up rates of gas-based fuels. The government has more than doubled the prices of natural gas to US$4.20 per mmBtu.

“Fuel prices are slated to move up and in the coming days non-food articles will put pressure on inflation,” an economist with a leading bank said.
On a weekly basis, vegetables turned expensive by 2.41 per cent, onions turned dearer by 5.73 per cent, potatoes by 0.95 per cent and fruits by 0.41 per cent, while prices of urad and moong rose by two per cent each. During the week, prices of non-food articles declined by 0.35 per cent. On an annual basis, pulses turned costlier by 33.65 per cent and fruits by 17 per cent.

Economists said scorching summer is making management of perishable food articles a difficult task and it is causing prices of fruits and vegetables to shoot up.