Placeholder canvas

Food and crude prices rising

Date:

New Delhi: Within a month of assuming office, the Modi government has been assailed by a spate of bad economic data. Last week, crude prices hit a nine-month high on Iraq crisis pressuring the rupee.

And now, rising food prices have emerged as one of the big challenges. Costs for food items, particularly vegetables and fruits, have added to inflationary pressures. Higher potato and onion prices pushed up food inflation to 9.50% in May from 8.64% in April.

Potato prices jumped 19% in May. Onion prices have been hit because of a strike in Nashik, one of the country’s biggest onion markets. And 45% of onion produce comes from the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka and if supplied from these two key states are hit, onion prices tend to rise.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, preparing his first budget to be presented in the second week of July, blamed “speculative hoarding” on fears of deficient rainfall for the rise in food prices.

The weather department has predicted below average rainfall between June-September this year, which could hit summer crops such as rice, corn, soybean and cotton, exacerbating price pressures and impacting economic growth.

The government’s subsidy bill is also likely to rise, worsening the fiscal balance. India imports nearly 80 per cent of its oil. Wholesale fuel prices rose 10.53 per cent in May from a year earlier, accelerating from 8.93 per cent in April.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Share post:

Subscribe

Popular

More like this
Related

Four Killed, Five Wounded In Stabbing Incident In North Illinois

Redd mentioned that not all of the victims had stab wounds and none of them were shot. She added by saying that they have a suspect in custody

Hope Everyone’s Rights Are Protected: UN On Kejriwal’s Arrest

Delhi CM Kejriwal was arrested by the ED(Enforcement Directorate) on March 21 in the Delhi liquor policy case, days ahead of the Lok Sabha polls

EAM Jaishankar Meets Ukrainian Counterpart Dmytro Kuleba In Delhi

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar on Friday...

Rajinikanth’s Thalaivar 171 First-Look Poster Drops

In a series of surprising announcements, fans were first...