Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Prohibitive price gains: On the Consumer Food Price Index

Prohibitive price gains: On the Consumer Food Price Index

Rising food prices may affect already weak consumption of goods

Inflation (मुद्रास्फीति) measured by the Consumer Price Index expectedly quickened to a four-month high in December, with the measure of gains in food prices accelerating at a relatively faster pace as inflation in cereals and pulses stayed stubbornly (In a way that shows you are determined to do what you want and refuse to do anything else) sticky. While headline retail inflation ticked up by 14 basis points from November’s level to 5.69%, price gains measured by the Consumer Food Price Index accelerated by 83 basis points from the preceding month’s reading to 9.53% in December. The upsurge in food prices was largely driven by cereals — the biggest constituent (घटक) of the ‘food and beverages’ group — that logged 9.93% inflation. Though that pace was marginally (सीमांत रूप से) slower than the 10.3% posted in November, the key sub-group that includes the staples (Basic or main; standard or regular) of rice, wheat and coarser cereals continued to register a month-on-month rate of inflation that offered little comfort to households. Disconcertingly (व्याकुलतापूर्वक), sequential (क्रमबद्ध) price gains accelerated the most in the case of jowar and bajra — by 63 and 106 basis points, respectively, from November’s month-on-month inflation rates. These two coarse cereals are consumed more widely in the rural hinterland (आंतरिक इलाके), particularly by those already facing varying degrees of precarity (अनिश्चितता). Price gains in pulses, a key protein source in vegetarian households, also accelerated to a 43-month high of 20.7%. With the current rabi season’s sowing of pulses as on January 12, almost 8% lower than in the corresponding (Similar to, connected with, or caused by something else) period of 2023, the outlook for their prices in the coming months is far from reassuring (आश्वस्त करने वाला).

Year-on-year inflation in vegetable prices also registered a dizzying almost 10 percentage points upsurge (A sudden and usually large increase in something) from November’s level, accelerating (To happen or make something happen sooner or faster) to a five-month high pace of 27.6%. Tomatoes and onions again led the charge, with their prices rising by over 33% and 74% from December 2022’s levels, respectively. However, reflecting (परावर्ती, दर्शाते) the seasonal volatility (अस्थिरता) that vegetable prices are prone to, prices of both the kitchen staples, as well as the broader sub-group, witnessed (देखना) sequential deflation (अपस्फीति). While the month-on-month deflation in overall vegetable prices was 5.3%, the prices of potatoes, onions and tomatoes contracted from November by 5.9%, 16% and 9.4%, respectively. Still, the average retail price of a majority of the 23 food items monitored on a daily basis by the Department of Consumer Affairs continues to remain higher as on January 14 than the year-earlier level, reflecting the challenge policymakers (नीति निर्माता) face in containing food-price inflation. With households likely to spend larger shares of their incomes on food as these costs continue to rise, there is a real risk that the knock-on impact on already weak consumption can derail (पटरी से उतरना) the broader growth momentum (गति) in the economy. And with the spiralling (If costs, prices, etc. spiral, they increase faster and faster) crisis in West Asia infusing (To cause someone or something to take in and be filled with a quality or a condition of mind) a new level of uncertainty over global trade and energy costs, policymakers have their task cut out.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.Inflation (noun)

Hindi Meaning - मुद्रास्फीति
English Meaning - A general, continuous increase in prices.

2.Constituent (noun)

Hindi Meaning - घटक
English Meaning - One of the parts that a substance or combination is made of.

3.Marginally (abverb)

Hindi Meaning - सीमांत रूप से
English Meaning - By a very small amount.

4.Disconcertingly (noun)

Hindi Meaning - व्याकुलतापूर्वक
English Meaning - In a way that makes someone feel uncertain and uncomfortable or worried.

5.Sequential (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - क्रमबद्ध
English Meaning - Following a particular order.

6.Hinterland (noun)

Hindi Meaning - आंतरिक इलाके
English Meaning - A region in the middle part of a country, esp. a large country, that is far from cities or the coast.

7.Precarity (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अनिश्चितता
English Meaning - The state of being uncertain or likely to get worse.

8.Reassuring (noun)

Hindi Meaning - आश्वस्त करने वाला
English Meaning - Making you feel less worried.

9.Reflecting (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - परावर्ती, दर्शाते
English Meaning - To show, express, or be a sign of something.

10.Volatility (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अस्थिरता
English Meaning - The quality or state of being likely to change suddenly, especially by becoming worse.

11.Witnessed (noun)

Hindi Meaning - देखना
English Meaning - A person who sees an event happening, especially a crime or an accident.

12.Deflation (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अपस्फीति
English Meaning - A reduction of the supply of money in an economy, and therefore a reduction of economic activity, that is often part of an intentional government plan to reduce prices.

13.Policymakers (noun)

Hindi Meaning - नीति निर्माता
English Meaning - A member of a government department, legislature, or other organization who is responsible for making new rules, laws, etc.

14.Derail (noun)

Hindi Meaning - पटरी से उतरना
English Meaning - To prevent a plan or process from succeeding.

15.Momentum (noun)

Hindi Meaning - गति
English Meaning - The quality that keeps an event developing or making progress after it has started.

16.Staples (noun)

English Meaning - Basic or main; standard or regular.

17.Accelerating (noun)

English Meaning - To happen or make something happen sooner or faster.

18.Stubbornly (noun)

English Meaning - In a way that shows you are determined to do what you want and refuse to do anything else.

19.Corresponding (Noun)

English Meaning - Similar to, connected with, or caused by something else.

20.Upsurge (noun)

English Meaning - A sudden and usually large increase in something.

21.Spiralling (noun)

English Meaning - If costs, prices, etc. spiral, they increase faster and faster.

22.Infusing (noun)

English Meaning - To cause someone or something to take in and be filled with a quality or a condition of mind.