New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will hold a meeting of top ministers of the Union Cabinet this afternoon on the issue of rising prices of food as a result of 19-month record high wholesale price-based inflation.
Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Union MInister of Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh and Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman are expected to attend the meeting. Top officials of concerned ministries and Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian are also expected to be present during the meeting.
Officials and ministers will discuss the measures that could be taken to check the rising prices of essential commodities.
Wholesale price-based inflation in May jumped to 0.79 per cent with vegetable prices witnessing a double-digit growth.
The April WPI-based inflation was at 0.34 per cent and in March it was (-)0.45 per cent while it stood at (-)2.20 per cent in May last year.
Food inflation rose to 7.88 per cent in May as against 4.23 per cent in April, showed a government data today.
Inflation in vegetables came in at 12.94 per cent, a sharp rise from 2.21 per cent, a month earlier. Pulses inflation remained stubborn at 35.56 per cent.
Prices of egg, meat and fish paced up by 9.75 per cent and in fruits the rise was 3.80 per cent. However, kitchen staple onion continued to witness decline at (-)21.70 per cent in May.
Manufactured products inflation too inched up to 0.91 per cent from 0.71 per cent in April.
