AlQa'dah 29, 1432, Oct 27, 2011, SPA -- India's food inflation rose to its highest level in more than six months, ballooning 11.43 per cent year-on-year for the week that ended October 15, dpa quoted government data as showing Thursday. The rise was due to a jump in the prices of fruit, vegetables, milk and protein-based items. Food inflation went into double digits for the week that ended October 8, hitting 10.6 per cent year-on-year. Vegetables became 25 per cent costlier in the week of October 15 while fruit rose by nearly 12 per cent and that of milk by 10.85 per cent, the Commerce Ministry said. The last time India's food inflation was recorded at such high levels was the week of April 16, when it hit 11.25 per cent. The Reserve Bank of India has hiked key interest rates 13 times since January 2010 to try to control inflation, but it hasn't stemmed the price rises and has slowed economic growth. India's food inflation, which was in double digits for most of 2010, had started easing in mid-2011 but has been on an upward trend again since August. Central bank Governor Duvvuri Subbarao, who announced the latest rate hike Tuesday said he expected inflation would begin falling in the coming months. "Inflation rate will begin falling in December 2011 and then continue down a steady path to 7 per cent by March 2012," he said. "It is expected to moderate further in the first half of 2012-13."
