Higher food prices accelerated May retail inflation in the country to 3.05 percent from 2.99 percent in April, official data showed on Wednesday.
However, on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the Consumer PriceIndex (CPI) in May 2019 was lower than the corresponding period of last yearwhen retail inflation stood at 4.87 per cent.
According to data furnished by the National StatisticalOffice (NSO), the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) inflated to 1.83 percentduring the month under review from an expansion of 1.1 percent in April 2019.
Product-wise, prices of vegetables, eggs, meat and fishpushed the retail inflation higher on a YoY basis. In contrast, decline inprices of ‘cereals and products’ and ‘milk and products’ sugar capped theoverall food inflation.
Accordingly, the prices of vegetables increased 5.46percent, meat and fish by 8.12 percent, eggs by 1.80 percent and pulses &its products by 2.13 percent.
On the other hand, prices of milk-based products 0.35percent, cereals & its products 1.24 percent and sugar and confectionery0.27 per cent.The sub-category of food and beverages recordeda 2.03 percent rise in last month over April 2018. Among the non-foodcategories, the fuel and light segment’s inflation increased to 2.48 percent inApril.