Food inflation rises to 16.55%

Food inflation rose to 16.55 per cent for the week ended May 22 on account of high prices of pulses, fruits and vegetables.

Inflation increased by 0.32 percentage point from 16.23 per cent in the previous week.

The uptick was mainly due to a 7 per cent increase in fish marine prices, 5 per cent rise in prices of poultry chicken, 2 per cent in prices of barley and masur each and one per cent increase in prices for fruits and vegetables.

However, coffee turned cheaper by 5 per cent while wheat prices eased by one per cent.

Among non-food articles, raw rubber prices rose by 5 per cent and raw silk and castor seed by 4 per cent each.

On an annual basis, prices of pulses rose by 30.84 per cent, milk by 21.12 per cent and fruits by 13.74 per cent.

The overall inflation for April stood at 9.59 per cent, moderating slightly from 9.90 per cent in March, according to the provisional data.