After seven months, retail inflation is back in double digits as vegetables turned costlier.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) touched 10.09 per cent in October, up from 9.84 per cent in September.
Prices of vegetables shot up a 45.67 per cent against 10.74 per cent in October 2012. The increase in vegetables prices will be a headache for the Centre with five States heading for elections. In Delhi, the Opposition has used the price rise, particularly of onion and tomato, as a campaign issue against the Congress Government. Fruits too, turned costlier in October, with prices rising more than 12 per cent.
During October, while retail prices of cereals and its products jumped 12.01 per cent, pulses rose 0.60 per cent. The inflation rate for eggs, fish and meat stood at 11.78, down from 12.18 per cent last year. Prices of milk and milk products fell three percentage points to 7.78 per cent. “Provisional annual inflation rates of October for rural, urban and combined in respect of food and beverages are 12.32 per cent, 12.86 per cent and 12.56 per cent, respectively,” said Minister for Statistics and Programme Implementation Srikant Jena.