Inflation due to higher prices of food items: FM

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee attributed the 4.78 per cent spurt in inflation in November to rising prices of food articles. "Inflation has risen high mainly because prices of food articles have gone up," Mukherjee said.

The inflation, according to the monthly data released on Monday, shot up from 1.34 per cent in the previous month to 4.78 per cent in November, registering a more than three-fold increase.

Mukherjee further said the rise was more evident in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) than in the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) as "food items have higher weightage" in the CPI. Food articles have a weightage of about 43 to 48 per cent in the CPI, the minister added, pointing out the difference in the two indices.

The CPI-based inflation for industrial workers rose by 11.49 per cent in October, up from 11.64 per cent a month ago.