Food inflation eases to 18.22 per cent

The annual rate of inflation based on the wholesale price index of food articles (base: 1993-94=100) declined to 18.22 per cent during the week ended 26 December 2009 against 19.83 per cent during the previous week. Food price inflation stood at 10.00 per cent in the comparable week a year ago (week ended 27 December 2008).

The index for the 'food articles' group declined 1.0 per cent to 284.8 (provisional) from 287.7 (provisional) for the previous week due to lower prices of fruits and vegetables (-6 per cent), gram (-3 per cent) and tea (-1 per cent).

However, the prices of fish-marine and barley (3 per cent each) and moong and masur (1 per cent each) moved up.

The inflation rate for the `primary articles' group, which also includes the food articles group, stood lower at 14.39 per cent during the week against 15.49 per cent for the previous week and 11.23 per cent during the corresponding week of the previous year (ended 27 December 2008).

The index for this major group declined by 0.7 per cent to 282.2 (provisional) from 284.1 (provisional) in the previous week.

The index for the 'non-food articles' group rose 0.1 per cent to 251.4 (provisional) from 251.2 (provisional) for the previous week due to higher prices of raw silk (4 per cent), fodder and raw rubber (2 per cent each) and cottonseed and copra (1 per cent each).  However, the prices of castor seed (-3 per cent) declined.