After witnessing a declining trend for three weeks, food inflation increased to 8.74 per cent for the week ended April 9. It is higher than the 8.28 per cent annual rise reported in the previous week.

While a base effect was responsible for the upsurge, higher inflation in fruits, cereals and pulses further contributed to the trend. The rise in food inflation, based on the annual Wholesale Price Index, for the latest reported week was despite a marginal decline in the food price index week-on-week terms.

Analysts expect food inflation to display some volatility in the coming weeks, even though it is forecast to dip below 8 per cent by May.

During the week under review, fruits recorded an annual inflation of 25 per cent, while egg, meat and fish were up 15 per cent. Cereals surged 5 per cent on an annual basis and, rice and wheat were up by over 2 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.

According to the data, vegetables were up 2 per cent, with onions up 8 per cent year-on-year and potatoes rising over 1 per cent. Milk was up 4 per cent on an annual basis. Pulses bucked the trend and were down nearly 6 per cent on account of the base effect.

During the week under review, non-food articles were up over 28 per cent year-on-year. The fuel and power subgroup was up over 13 per cent, while petrol was up nearly 22 per cent.

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