Flood inflation slips to 9.32%

Food inflation eased marginally for the week ended October 1 but stayed above 9 per cent for the third week in a row, as prices of vegetables, fruits and milk remained expensive, pinching the common man.

Data released today revealed that food inflation as measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) stood at 9.32 per cent for the week ended October 1. It was 9.41 per cent in the previous week.

As food prices remained high, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the weekly decline in food inflation numbers is yet to translate into a trend.

"There has been a marginal decline... We require indication for a longer period of time," he told reporters.

The WPI revealed that vegetables became dearer by 13.01 per cent year-on-year, while fruits and milk were up 12.19 per cent and 10.35 per cent, respectively.

Protein-based items like eggs, meat and fish also became 9.92 per cent dearer on an annual basis. Cereals turned more expensive by 5.41 per cent, rice by 5.86 per cent and pulses by 6.87 per cent annually.

On the marginal decline in weekly food inflation, experts said that though there has been some fall in prices of wheat and onions, the drop in WPI is mainly due to high base effect -- inflation in the same period last year was over 17 per cent.

Onion prices declined by 10.15 per cent on an annual basis and wheat by 0.24 per cent.

However, the 'Fuel and power' inflation went up to 15.10 per cent week-on-week against 14.69 per cent due to the increased petrol prices. Oil marketing companies had increased petrol prices in mid-September.