Page 5 - Food Inflation

Pak Parliament passes tax-laden budget ahead of talks on fresh IMF loan

Pakistan is in talks with the IMF for a loan of $6 billion to $8 billion

Retail inflation steadily easing, food prices still a concern: RBI bulletin

Retail inflation is gradually easing, but volatile and elevated food prices are interrupting the path of disinflation, the RBI Bulletin said on Wednesday. An article on the "State of the Economy", published in the June 2024 Bulletin, said global growth was resilient in the first quarter of 2024, and many central banks have pivoted towards a less restrictive monetary policy stance in response to the fall in inflation in their economies. In India, high-frequency indicators suggest the real GDP growth in Q1 FY2024-25 is broadly maintaining the pace it achieved in the preceding quarter. Also, the prospects for agriculture are brightening with the early landfall of the southwest monsoon, said the article authored by a team led by Reserve Bank deputy governor Michael Debabrata Patra. "Headline inflation is gradually easing, driven by sustained softening of its core component, although the path of disinflation is interrupted by volatile and elevated food prices," the authors said. The RB

China's consumer inflation holds steady in May, factory deflation eases

Weak consumption in China has kept a lid on consumer prices since 2023 despite many rounds of support measures as confidence remains low in the face of a protracted property sector crisis

Immediate challenge for Modi 3.0: Tackling vegetable prices amid heatwave

With the intensifying heat wave in the upcoming weeks, the possibility of prices decreasing is not very likely, although there might be a slight moderation

World food prices surge for third consecutive month in May, says UN

The FAO index hit a three-year low in February as food prices continued to ease off from a record peak set in March 2022, following Russia's invasion of fellow crop export major Ukraine

World Food Safety Day 2024: Prepare for the unexpected

Ensuring food safety is a public health priority and an essential step towards achieving food security

Costlier vegetables made your thali more expensive by 9% in May: CRISIL

A vegetarian thali has roti, onion, tomato, potato, rice, dal, curd, and salad. A non-vegetarian thali has the same foods but chicken (broiler) replaces dal

Improved prospects

Post-harvest losses must be minimised

Food inflation likely to remain cause for concern due to heatwave: ICRA

The wholesale food inflation, which is at a four-month high, will continue to be a cause for concern in May and June as heatwave is likely to jack up prices of perishable commodities, ICRA Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said on Tuesday. Although the impact of high base of last year will play out in July and August, the impact of monsoon will determine the price conditions in the subsequent months. As per data released on Tuesday, the wholesale price index (WPI)-based food inflation was at a four-month high of 7.74 per cent in April. Retail food inflation also remained stubbornly high at 8.70 per cent in April 2024, as against 3.84 per cent in April 2023. Nayar said weather is an important factor in determining the food inflation trajectory. Monsoon was not very favourable last year and this year there are heatwaves in parts of the country, she said. "With the onset of summer, prices of perishable items are charting upwards. For the next two months, we expect the food inflation to cli

A veg thali cost 8% more in April this year than a year ago: CRISIL

Non-veg thali becomes cheaper; pricier onion, tomato and potato push up price of veg thali

Consumer price inflation likely slipped in April, food inflation sticky

V Anantha Nageswaran, the government's chief economic adviser, said on Wednesday the Indian economy was better placed than before to pursue 'non-inflationary' growth

Govt scraps pulses import tax to curb food inflation amid LS election

The move is likely to shield Indian consumers from rising prices, but could discourage local farmers to boost plantings of the crops

One kg flour for Rs 800, roti for Rs 25: How bad is inflation in Pakistan?

Inflation in Pakistan is increasing sharply, making it difficult for people to buy basic necessities for their families' meals

German inflation creeps up to 2.4% in April on back of higher food prices

Euro zone inflation is expected to remain at 2.4%, unchanged from the previous month, according to economists polled by Reuters

As India develops, high food inflation will get less severe: Ashima Goyal

The problem of high food inflation will be "less severe" in India going ahead, as modern supply chains with diversified sources can help quickly address sudden spikes in prices of specific food items, RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Ashima Goyal said on Thursday. Stressing that the share of food in the household budget is high in India, Goyal said policy needs to focus on increasing agricultural productivity, since stable agricultural prices are important for non-inflationary growth. "As India develops, this problem (high food inflation) will get less severe, for a number of reasons. Modern supply chains with diversified sources respond quickly to large spikes in specific items," she told PTI. Goyal further pointed out that one does not hear of tomato or onion prices spiking in advanced economies. "We naturally have diverse geographic regions, better integrated markets sourcing from different regions can help mitigate climate change induced food price spikes," she ...

Wholesale inflation eases to 0.2% in Feb, food inflation rises marginally

The wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation eased in January to 0.2 per cent from 0.27 per cent in the preceding month. The WPI inflation was in the negative zone from April to October and had turned positive in November at 0.26 per cent. "The annual rate of inflation based on all India Wholesale Price Index (WPI) number is 0.20 per cent (provisional) for the month of February, 2024 (over February, 2023)," the commerce and industry ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. Food inflation moved up marginally to 6.95 per cent in February from 6.85 per cent in January, data showed. Inflation in vegetables was 19.78 per cent, up from 19.71 in January. The WPI inflation in pulses was at 18.48 per cent in February compared to 16.06 in January.

Govt to take all measures to contain prices of essential food items: Goyal

The Centre will pull all stops to ensure prices of essential food items from onion to tomatoes to pulses do not spike particularly during the elections, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said as he cited the Modi government's track record of controlling rates within days of any temporary hike. In an interview with PTI, Goyal, who is heading the food and consumer affairs ministry, asserted that the Modi government would continue to take measures to ensure that there is no stress on the household budget of "our Nari-Shakti". Replying to a query regarding the government's strategy to ensure that there are no spikes in prices of food items when the general election kicks in, the minister said, "We are going to be on top of it. And I can assure the people of India that this government cares for the women of India." He highlighted that the government has spent in the last few years about Rs 28,000 crore to the price stabilisation fund to support the effort to fight against food inflation. "We

Govt to conduct another household survey before changing CPI: Report

The findings could lead to a decrease in the weighting of food in the CPI, which is used by the central bank to frame monetary policy

Moderation in food prices cools WPI to 3 month low of 0.27% in Jan

This is the third consecutive month that the wholesale inflation rate had remained in the positive territory after it had recorded deflation for the major part of the financial year 2024

Wholesale inflation eases to 0.27% in January, food inflation at 3.79%

WPI inflation January: The highest fall in inflation was witnessed in manufactured products followed by fuel & power