Food inflation expected to decrease due to better production of Kharif crops

20-Aug-2024 02:57 PM

New Delhi. Due to good monsoon rains and increase in sowing area, the production of Kharif crops is expected to be better, due to which common people are expected to get some relief from food inflation in the coming months.

A bulletin issued by the Reserve Bank on the state of the economy said that during the current month (August),

the prices of grains, pulses and edible oils have come down significantly, due to which the gross inflation rate based on the Consumer Price Index has come down from 5.1 percent in June to 3.5 percent in July.

The main reason for the decline of 1.54 percentage points in the inflation rate is the favorable comparative base of 2.9 percent.

Consumers may get some relief from the decline in food inflation, but the prices of vegetables and fruits are going up.

There has been a slight softening in the prices of grains, pulses and edible oils from very high levels, while the prices of potatoes,

onions and tomatoes remain at high levels. According to the Reserve Bank bulletin, although the core inflation rate has been coming down since 2022-23, which can be attributed to monetary policy measures,

the graph of overall inflation rate remains at a very high level due to the tremendous increase in the prices of food products during the last two-three years. To increase the supply and availability in the domestic sector,

the government has imposed export ban on some categories of rice, wheat and its products and sugar etc., has made the import of five major pulses duty free and has reduced the import duty on edible oils to the minimum level,

but still these measures have not brought concrete meaningful results. Food inflation is also affecting other sectors because the savings of common people are decreasing and goods in the market have become expensive.