He said that for two consecutive weeks from October, food and non-food inflation has come down. The decline is sharper in food inflation. "Normally, I do not have much confidence in the weekly figures. But if the trend continues, let us hope for the best," the Finance Minister added.
Food inflation fell sharply to single digit at 9.01 per cent for the week ended November 12 even as prices of most agricultural items, barring potatoes, onions and wheat, continued to rise, on an annual basis. The rate of price rise of food items, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), was 10.63 per cent in the previous week. It had stood at 11.38 per cent in the corresponding week of the previous year.