New Delhi : In the last one week, retail prices of potatoes, tomatoes and onions have fallen by 20 to 25 percent. However, this is many times more than the month of December last year. Traders have said that there has been a huge jump in the prices of food items in the last 6 months.
By the middle of January, the inflation rate may fall slightly from the current level and may be at par with last year. Its effect can be seen in the form of softening of food inflation rate in the coming months. Due to this, interest rates can be cut in the Monetary Policy Committee meeting of RBI to be held in February.
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Potato and tomato prices reduced
There is a decline in the prices of potatoes which are included in every vegetable. The main reason for which is said to be the good crop of potatoes. The production of the new crop has strengthened in Uttar Pradesh, the country's largest producer, and not only this, the cold storages which had stored the stock of potatoes to further increase the prices, are now forced to liquidate this stock. A member of the Tomato Association has said that tomato prices have declined due to higher production of tomatoes in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and the improvement in wholesale markets across the country.
what is the price of onion
Onion prices, which had reached a five-year high in the month of November, have also started falling due to the increasing arrival of new crop of onion across the country. The average price of onion has fallen 36 percent from Rs 37 per kg on December 1 to Rs 23.5 per kg on Monday. Most of the prices of good quality onion have been consistently around Rs 50 per kg in the wholesale markets and around Rs 80 per kg in the retail business during the month of November.
Can RBI cut interest rates?
It is being said that due to increase in food inflation RBI has not cut interest rates. Food inflation in the month of September was 9.24 percent. However, in the month of October it had increased even more to about 9.69 percent. In the month of November, the food inflation rate remained at 9 percent only. This figure was 6 to 7 percent in the month of December. Also, the food inflation figure is expected to come down by more than 5 percent in the month of January. It is being told that due to decreasing food inflation rate, RBI may cut the MPC interest rate in the month of February. It is expected that RBI may cut the interest rate by about 0.25 percent.
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