KARACHI - The food inflation has marked a rapid upsurge of 400 basis points since March due to increase in the domestic POL products prices. In February this year the food inflation was reported at 16 per cent which inflated to 20 per cent in March. The food inflation is expected to trigger further as Finance Minister has indicated more increase in the POL products before June 2008, although before coming to power the PPP and PML(N) vowed not to raise oil prices. In March the caretaker government increased twice the POL prices while in April the newly-elected government made one upward adjustment in fuel oil prices which jacked up the inflation. It is most likely that the rate of food inflation will increase more because of the newly-elected coalition government in the country which has decided not to subsidize the POL products. With the reduction of subsidy in domestic prices of oil (fuel & edible) and other consumer commodities, especially flour, it seems impossible to control unbridled growth in the prices of essential consumer items. The new government had also reduced subsidy on issue price of wheat and raised the price to Rs 1622 per 100-kg, as against previous price of Rs 1200/100-kg, thus making an increase of Rs 4.22 per kg that was now being passed on to the consumers in the shape of increase in flour price at retail stage with double impact. The weekly Sensitive Price Index, SPI inflation had swelled by 23.71 percent during the week ended on April 25, over the corresponding period of last year. According to the Federal Bureau of Statistics, the prices of 29 mostly essential kitchen items skyrocketed during the period under review and the SPI recorded an increase of 26.5 and 26.15 percent, respectively, for households in the two lower income brackets of up to Rs3,000 and Rs3,001 to Rs5,000. FBS revealed that high food and oil prices and house rent pushed consumer price index (CPI) inflation to 14.12 percent year-on-year in March, the highest in 13 years, according to data released by Federal Bureau of Statistics on Thursday. The CPI inflation surged by 14.12 percent in March over the same period of last year with 3.08 percent increase in March over February 2008. The 20.16 percent food inflation during the period under review shows that it affected the poor most with prices of vegetables going up by 22.42 percent, chicken farm 22.32 percent, cooking oil 16.14 percent and fresh fruit 11.46 percent, all daily food items. According to the SBP Inflation Monitor, in February 2008, the food inflation was reported at 16 per cent while the general inflation remained at 11.3 per cent. The food inflation breached the double-digit barrier in September 2007 and since then it continued to march forward amid rising prices of essential consumer items at domestic and international markets.