Ghar Kharcha: It’s Not Just Tomatoes Upending Your Grocery Bills
Most items on your thali saw a rise in prices, driving consumer inflation to a 15-month high in July.
India's retail inflation surged to 7.44% in July, its highest since April 2020, due to a spike in food prices. This was higher than what most economists predicted, but are households surprised?
Households continued to see a near-collective rise in grocery bills, having to pay higher prices for atta, breads, milk and milk products, fruits, vegetables, and spices.
Food and beverage inflation rose to the highest level since January 2020, having spiked to 10.57% in July from 4.69% in June. Vegetable prices rose by 37.3%, with tomato inflation at over 200%. Compared to the previous month, when tomatoes had already seen a sharp rise in prices, prices rose by 213%.
Are Tomatoes The Only Culprit?
Would excluding or limiting tomatoes have helped bring down grocery bills? According to a research note by IDFC Bank, headline inflation excluding tomatoes rose to 6.1% on an annual basis in July from 5.3% in June.
Specifically, within food and beverages, around 71% of the items by weight saw inflation higher than 6% in July, compared to 59% in June. It is likely that most items on your thali also continued to see an escalation in prices, including atta, rice, and dal, along with vegetables.
Among vegetables, potatoes, onions, cabbage, cauliflower, etc. also saw significant sequential momentum.
Daily food prices indicate that tomato prices have begun to moderate over the last few days as supplies have improved, according to market watchers. Don't celebrate just yet! For all we know, onions could be the next tomatoes, with prices seeing a sequential rise of 18.9%. Eggs, meat, and fish saw a modest fall, likely because of the month of Shravan.
Spices and condiments have also seen a sharp rise.
Jeera was up by over 100% from last year. So if dal remains your one-stop source of protein, skip the tadka!
While you can always use less jeera, the prices of ginger and garlic have soured. Prices of ginger were up 177.1% on an annual basis, while those of garlic shot up 70.1%. On a sequential basis, too, the prices of both were up by over 20%.
Maybe it's time to cook a Satvik meal!
There is some relief. Core inflation—all items excluding food and fuel—has eased. Prices of clothing and footwear, household goods, and services are providing respite after rising through most of last year.
Among utilities, electricity bills saw a rise on account of higher tariffs, while your other bills are unlikely to have seen much change.
