Food inflation up, FM mulls import

Dec. 17: The surge in food prices has continued unab-ated, with the food inflation rising to 19.95 per cent for the first week of December due to supply shortages.
The finance minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, said that in order to control food prices, the government will import essential commodities.
“Food prices are going up, this is an area of concern. We have to take appropriate measures to see what best could be done by augmenting the food grain supply through imports,” said Mr Mukherjee.
The high food prices has now turned into a political issue.
The high food prices could also spill over to other sectors. Workers, who provide different services and who spend a major portion of their income on food are likely to demand more money for their services.
The analysts are expecting the RBI to tighten the monetary policy as soon as January to reign in the inflation.
As compared to last year the prices of potatoes were up by 136.39 per cent, vegetables by 41.09 per cent, pulses by 40.81 per cent, wheat by 13.91 per cent and rice by 12.70 per cent.
Also prices of cereals were up by 13.55 per cent, onions by 15.42 per cent and milk by 13.61 per cent.
The increase in food pric-es is due to shortages caus-ed partly by a weak monsoon and partly by floods in some other parts of India.