Editor's Pick: Prices of essential food commodities continue to rise, inflation not totally tamed

Households and small eatery operators have been scrambling to juggle their budgets as retail prices of several crucial food items have been on the rising trajectory in the past one month. Prices of nine of the ten key food items sampled by The Hindu – rice, wheat, toor dal, sugar, milk, tea (loose), salt (iodised, packed), potato, onion and tomato, were seen to have had higher rates on Tuesday on a month-on-month comparison. Furthermore, their prices have been on the rise through the past month. The price of salt alone was unchanged. Milk reported the least month-on-month increases (at 0.5%) compared to essential vegetables which have risen as much as 8.8% (potato) and 11.1% (onion). Prices of tomato were twice as high as in the last week of May. Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary at the Ministry of Consumer Affairs said this was the result of seasonal factors. He explained that tomato is grown and harvested across the country at different points of the year. “There are some gaps, and at some points, there will be little shortage which gets compounded by weather disturbances. It’s also highly perishable. When it rains, transportation becomes an issue,” he stated. Further, the traders in different parts of the country attributed the higher summer temperatures this year alongside the unusually sharper rain spells, especially in northern states, as factors affecting the supply of vegetables. The price rise in food items had moderated to 2.91% in May. Price of vegetables and edible oils had a significant role in slowing down the pace of inflation during the period. However, inflation in cereals, pulses, milk and spices continued to emerge as points of concern. The Hindu’s Editorials Keep it simple: On opting for higher pension Played in India: On India as cricket’s World Cup host The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz Who is the current Foreign Secretary of India? Ajit Doval Vinay Kwatra Harsh Vardhan Shringla Pramod Kumar Mishra To know the answer and to play the full quiz, click here [logo] Editor's Pick 29 June 2023 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Prices of essential food commodities continue to rise, inflation not totally tamed Households and small eatery operators have been scrambling to juggle their budgets as [retail prices of several crucial food items have been on the rising trajectory]( in the past one month. Prices of nine of the ten key food items sampled by The Hindu – rice, wheat, toor dal, sugar, milk, tea (loose), salt (iodised, packed), potato, onion and tomato, were seen to have had higher rates on Tuesday on a month-on-month comparison. Furthermore, their prices have been on the rise through the past month. The price of salt alone was unchanged. Milk reported the least month-on-month increases (at 0.5%) compared to essential vegetables which have risen as much as 8.8% (potato) and 11.1% (onion). Prices of tomato were twice as high as in the last week of May. Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary at the Ministry of Consumer Affairs said this was the result of seasonal factors. He explained that tomato is grown and harvested across the country at different points of the year. “There are some gaps, and at some points, there will be little shortage which gets compounded by weather disturbances. It’s also highly perishable. When it rains, transportation becomes an issue,” he stated. Further, the traders in different parts of the country attributed the higher summer temperatures this year alongside the unusually sharper rain spells, especially in northern states, as factors affecting the supply of vegetables. The price rise in food items had moderated to 2.91% in May. Price of vegetables and edible oils had a significant role in slowing down the pace of inflation during the period. However, inflation in cereals, pulses, milk and spices continued to emerge as points of concern. 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