New Delhi, January 13: Describing the food inflation a “temporary phenomenon”, the Planning Commission has said that the prices of various food items will decline towards the month-end and that the economic growth during the year would exceed 7 per cent.
“The food price inflation is a worrying problem, but in my view the food price inflation strictly on vegetables etc. is a temporary phenomenon… they (prices) will go down further,” Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said in an interview on ‘CNBC TV-18’.
With the coming of the rabi (winter) crop, he added, “you will see a drop in cereal inflation compared to what it is now … wait for the end of January… on the foodgrain front there will be ample available”.
Driven by rising prices of pulses, potato, onion and other vegetables, the food inflation soared to decade’s high of about 20 per cent in December before sliding marginally.
–Agencies