Ottawa: Inflation was down in December, as per the data released by Statistics Canada, inflation rate was 6.3% in December, down from 6.8% in November. However, prices of food items have been skyrocketing for a few months now.
Economists said that once inflation can be controlled, grocery prices will remain so fast for a long time. The Prime Minister Justin Trudeau government is mum over the issue.
Pedro Antunes, chief economist at the Conference Board of Canada, said the data released on inflation on Tuesday also indicated that grocery prices may have slowed down to some extent. The prices of food purchased from stores in the month of December were as high as 11 per cent, marginally lower than the 11.4 per cent prices of food in November. Grocery prices rose by 9.8 per cent in 2022 as compared to 2021. Since 1981, food prices have risen so fast and to such an extent.
In 2022, the prices of every food item tracked by Statistics Canada were found to be high. Only the prices of canned salmon (fish) came down. Prices of common food items were found to be higher such as cereals by 13.6 per cent, processed meat by 9.6 per cent, fresh vegetables by 8.3 per cent, fresh fruits by 10.4 per cent and dairy products by 8·6 per cent.