Dip in food inflation not much consolation: Pranab Mukherjee

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said that the dip in food inflation for the week ended January 8, was not "much consolation" and the government would continue to take steps to tame rising prices.

"Some of the vegetable prices are still high... I do not know what would be the impact of the recent increase (in petrol price) because these figures are two weeks old," he told reporters here.

Although food inflation during the period declined by 1.38 percentage points to 15.52%, the vegetable and onion prices continue to remain high.

Moreover, the inflation figures do not capture the impact of the recent increase in petrol prices by Rs2.50 per litre.

"But the fact of the matter is (that) from 16.91% it (food inflation) has come down to 15.52%...it is not much consolation but declining trend is there," the minister said.

"We shall have to watch the situation. All necessary, effective steps are being taken including improving of supply management," he added.

On an annual basis, prices of pulses for the week ended January 8, have declined by 14.92%, followed by wheat (6.11%) and potato (2.91%).

Vegetable prices, however, are still up; they are 65.39% more expensive in comparison to the year-ago period.

Onion prices nearly doubled during the year.