Vegetable prices likely come down next month: Finance Ministry

After seeing a surge in the prices of staple food, the government has announced that it is likely that vegetable prices will start cooling down from next month onwards, with the arrival of new crops in the market.

Adding to this, one of the officials from the Finance Ministry hints that a reduction in excise duty is not on their list.

“Flexible trade policy has been adopted to keep prices down. We must remember that global food prices are very high due to the Ukraine war and the supply of food grains has been affected and that is a global factor from which Indian cannot remain isolated. We have taken measures to isolate our population from that inflation and relative to others we are in a much better position,” the official told PTI.

In addition to this, the official also said that the government has released reserves of wheat and rice, restricted the export of sugar and rice, and opened the door for the import of pulses and oilseeds. Apart from this, the initiatives have been taken to lower tomato costs which will start to pay off in the coming months. Since tomatoes are a seasonal commodity, the price pressure will lessen once we receive a new harvest.

Tomatoes also see a dip in prices:

The tomato prices were making people cry due to the unprecedented prices and have skidded drastically in the past week, giving much-needed respite to people, especially homemakers.

About two weeks ago, the good quality of tomatoes was floating around ₹200 to ₹300 per kg in retail markets, which has now come down to ₹40-55 per kg in wholesale markets and ₹60-65 per kg in retail markets.