Food inflation tops 15%

Food inflation shot up to 15.58% for the second week of November on the back of potato prices, which have more than doubled in the past one year. Other essential items like pulses and onion rose by more than a quarter in the wholesale market, government data on inflation for the week ended November 14 showed. With inflationary pressure building up, the RBI in its next policy review may take steps to check easy money. It is likely that the RBI in its January policy might go for monetary tightening measures and raise Cash Reserve Ratio or policy rates. According to the inflation data, potato prices rose by 111%, pulses by 35% and onion by 27% in the one-year period ending November 14. Staple items like wheat and rice rose by 12% each during the period. Vegetables too continued to stalk consumers registering a 12% rise during the same period. However, among fuels petrol prices fell by 12%, cooking gas by 7% and diesel by 6%.