Food inflation, based on the annual Wholesale Price Index, eased to a two-month low in early February on moderating prices of onions and other vegetables.

The food price index rose 11.05 per cent on an annual basis, the lowest reading since the first week of December and sharply lower than the 13.10 per cent year-on-year rise reported in the previous week.

Primary articles

Reflecting the easing of inflation in food item, the primary articles index rose 14.59 per cent, down from an annual rise of 17.05 per cent a week earlier.

The fuel index, however, recorded a rise for the third consecutive week, surging 11.92 per cent on a year-on-year basis, Government data on Thursday showed.

According to the data, the index for ‘Food Articles' group declined by 2 per cent on a sequential basis during the latest week due to a dip in staples, including fruits and vegetables (8 per cent week-on-week drop) and moong (2 per cent) and masur (1 per cent).

Pranab's hope

Reacting to the drop in the food inflation estimates, the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, said this should result in overall inflation figures going down, even if not over the next 2 to 3 weeks, but over the next one or two months.

He also said that not only has food inflation fallen, but actual food prices have declined “very substantially”, with the index going down to 182.9 from 186.9 in the previous week. Even for non-food articles, the index in the latest week has declined to 181.3 from 183.5 in the previous week, he said in a statement.

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