Food inflation falls to 16.04%

Food Inflation further eased to 16.04% for the week ended April 24, as arrival of rabi (winter) crops cooled down prices of essential items.
     
Inflation fell over 0.57% from 16.61% in the previous week on account of a percentage point drop in prices of fish, fruits, wheat and vegetables over the week.
     
However, tea prices rose 13% while maize, gram and eggs prices were up 1% each.
     
Prices of cereals eased by 0.19% and that of rice by 0.12% in the week, but pulses became costlier by 0.60%.
     
Besides arrival of rabi crops in the markets, analysts attributed the cooling trend in inflation to reports of a normal monsoon that has somewhat curbed aggressive speculative activity in food stocks.
     
Food Inflation, which topped 20% in December last year, came off from its high for the second consecutive week.
     
On yearly basis, prices of vegetables, including potatoes and onions fell, but those of milk, fruits and pulses remained high.