New Delhi: Despite the government's best efforts to talk it down, India's annual food inflation shot up to 16.55 per cent for the week ended on May 22, owing to high prices of pulses, milk and fruits, official data released on Thursday showed.
The food inflation was 16.23 per cent during the previous week.
Data on the wholesale price index (WPI) released by the commerce and industry ministry showed that food index rose 0.5 percent and non-food index increased by 0.41 percent during the week under review.
Fuel prices climbed 14.14 per cent during the week against 12.08 per cent in the week before.
The primary articles index was up 16.89 per cent, compared to a 15.9 per cent rise during the previous week.
Following are the rise and fall in prices of some essential food items over the 52-week period:
Pulses: 30.84 per cent
Milk: 21.12 per cent
Fruits: 13.74 per cent
Rice: 7.3 per cent
Cereals: 5.33 per cent
Wheat: 3.07 per cent
Potatoes: (-)34.09 per cent
Onions : (-) 11.55 per cent
The overall annual rate of inflation in April stood at 9.59 per cent.
With food inflation not coming down and in fact spreading to non-food articles, some policy action by the Reserve Bank of India in its quarterly review can be expected next month.
Policymakers meanwhile are hoping for a good monsoon to help ease prices.
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