‘India managed food inflation well in difficult global conditions’

Food inflation has been a concern for many countries, including advanced economies, but India has managed to steer its inflation trajectory “very well”. The consumer food price index (CFPI) in India moderated to 4.79 per cent in March this year, down from 5.95 per cent in February and 7.68 per cent in March 2022. This is at a time when the inflation figures in the US and European countries have been hovering way above their tolerance range as the countries try to revive their economies after the turmoil caused by COVID-19 and amid difficult global conditions in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war. In the US, the UK, and Euro Area, the food inflation is 8.5 per cent, 19.1 per cent, and 17.5 per cent, data put out by the World of Statistics on its Twitter handle showed. Countries like Lebanon, Venezuela, Argentina, and Zimbabwe are facing food inflation at 352 per cent, 158 per cent, 110 per cent, and 102 per cent respectively. “Well done India – for managing food inflation very well (at such difficult global times!),” said Prof Shamika Ravi, a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, in a tweet. She attached the food inflation data tweeted by ‘World of Statistics’ which lists figures from various countries. India is among the six countries towards the bottom half of the list whose food inflation is less than five per cent. The government has taken steps to keep food inflation under check. To manage the overall food security of the country as well as meet the needs of the neighbouring and other vulnerable countries amid the Ukraine war, India last year amended the export policy of wheat by putting its export under the “prohibited” category, which is still in force. Global wheat prices have shown substantial volatility in the past year as both Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of wheat. Heat waves in several wheat-growing regions in India before the rabi harvest last year affected crops. Wheat pods in the mature stage ty