India's food inflation at 8.04% y/y as at July 23: Govt

India's food price index rose 8.04% and the fuel price index climbed 12.12% in the year to July 23, government data on Thursday showed.

In the previous week, annual food and fuel inflation stood at 7.33% and 12.12%, respectively. The primary articles price index was up 10.99%, compared with an annual rise of 10.49% a week earlier. India's central bank stunned investors last week by raising interest rates by 50 basis points, showing unexpected resolve in fighting persistently high inflation that had quickened to 9.44% in June. The rate hike was the Reserve Bank of India's 11th since March 2010, and the RBI Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said on Monday the country needs to raise interest rates to restrain inflation even at the cost of some sacrifice to growth, reinforcing expectations that more rate hikes were in the offing.