Sharp contrast: At 4.96%, Dec retail food inflation higher than wholesale

Wholesale food inflation declined from 6.06% in November to 4.72% in December

Retail food inflation in December rose to 4.96 per cent, year-on-year, from 4.35 per cent in November. In contrast, wholesale food inflation declined from 6.06 per cent in November to 4.72 per cent in December. 

Retail food inflation has crossed wholesale food inflation for the first time in recent months.

That prices are rising slower for farmers than consumers is more pronounced in perishable commodities like potatoes and tomatoes and in chana (gram), whose prices have slumped after a bumper harvest.

The price of chana fell by 9.2 per cent in Delhi’s wholesale markets in December and by 2.6 per