India food inflation returns to double-digits
India's food price inflation returns to double-digits, adding to pressure on the scandal-hit Congress government.
NEW DELHI:
India's food price inflation has returned to double-digits, fuelled by surging onion prices, official data showed Thursday, adding to pressure on the scandal-hit Congress government.
Food inflation jumped close to three percentage points to 12.13 per cent for the week ending December 11 from the same period a year earlier, according to commerce ministry figures.
The government, wary of the potential political fallout from soaring onion prices, has gone on a virtual war footing to bring down the cost of the vegetable, an Indian dietary staple and known as the "poor man's food."
"I am afraid there has been some upward movement of food items," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters, adding "one of the reasons may be the high price of onions for which we have already taken steps."
Prices of onions jumped more than 33 per cent from a year earlier while fruit, eggs, meat and fish leapt 20 per cent. Prices of other vegetables climbed 16 per cent.
The government, already on the defensive over a multi-billion-dollar telecom corruption scandal, has eliminated customs duty on onions as part of its moves to cut prices of the vegetable.
Onions are being trucked in from Pakistan, where they cost a fifth of the price, in a bid to cool domestic prices.
The Congress party government, which fears a backlash from the "aam admi" ("common man"), which is its main voter-support base, has also asked state-run cooperative stores to sell onions at wholesale rates in a bid to ease prices.
Policymakers had forecast food prices would ease thanks to a plentiful monsoon. However unusual rains in some parts of the country damaged some crops, contributing to the price leap.
Prices of onions, for instance, have soared due to unseasonal rains in the western state of Maharashtra which is a key supplier of the vegetable.
The government has been feeling the heat over inflation as the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has seized on the issue to galvanise its fortunes.
Overall headline inflation stands at 7.48 per cent, still above the central bank's comfort zone of around 5.5 per cent for this financial year to March 2011.
India's food price inflation has returned to double-digits, fuelled by surging onion prices, official data showed Thursday, adding to pressure on the scandal-hit Congress government.
Food inflation jumped close to three percentage points to 12.13 per cent for the week ending December 11 from the same period a year earlier, according to commerce ministry figures.
The government, wary of the potential political fallout from soaring onion prices, has gone on a virtual war footing to bring down the cost of the vegetable, an Indian dietary staple and known as the "poor man's food."
"I am afraid there has been some upward movement of food items," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters, adding "one of the reasons may be the high price of onions for which we have already taken steps."
Prices of onions jumped more than 33 per cent from a year earlier while fruit, eggs, meat and fish leapt 20 per cent. Prices of other vegetables climbed 16 per cent.
The government, already on the defensive over a multi-billion-dollar telecom corruption scandal, has eliminated customs duty on onions as part of its moves to cut prices of the vegetable.
Onions are being trucked in from Pakistan, where they cost a fifth of the price, in a bid to cool domestic prices.
The Congress party government, which fears a backlash from the "aam admi" ("common man"), which is its main voter-support base, has also asked state-run cooperative stores to sell onions at wholesale rates in a bid to ease prices.
Policymakers had forecast food prices would ease thanks to a plentiful monsoon. However unusual rains in some parts of the country damaged some crops, contributing to the price leap.
Prices of onions, for instance, have soared due to unseasonal rains in the western state of Maharashtra which is a key supplier of the vegetable.
The government has been feeling the heat over inflation as the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has seized on the issue to galvanise its fortunes.
Overall headline inflation stands at 7.48 per cent, still above the central bank's comfort zone of around 5.5 per cent for this financial year to March 2011.