Pranab attributes inflation to high prices of food articles

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee attributed the 4.78 per cent spurt in inflation in November to rising prices of food articles.

“Inflation has risen mainly because of the food article prices have gone up”, Mr. Mukherjee told reporters here.

The inflation, according to the monthly data released on Monday, has 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.

Mr. Mukherjee further said that rise was more evident in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) than in the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) as “food items have a 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 two indexes.

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