New Delhi, March 11: Fuel inflation rose to 11.38 per cent because of a hike in petrol and diesel prices, while food inflation eased marginally to 17.81 per cent in the last week of February.

The rise in the fuel price index has raised concerns about inflation spreading to the rest of the economy. “Food inflation will moderate. However, fuel and manufactured goods inflation will firm up because of low inflation of these items last year. Overall inflation will reach 10 per cent by March-end,” Crisil principal economist D.K. Joshi said.

Analysts said truckers, who carry about 65 per cent of the goods, would pass on the fuel price hike to their clients — mainly traders — fanning inflation further. “The rise in transportation costs is likely to fuel inflation in the short term. In the coming months, inflation will remain a huge macro-economic issue for policy makers,” Sujan Hajra, economist at Anand Rathi Financial Services, said.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has said the tax on fuel will increase inflation by 0.4 per cent. As of January, inflation stood at 8.6 per cent, the highest since October 2008.

RBI alert

The RBI today said high inflation, originating in food, had started spreading to the broader economy. However, inflation was likely to ease on the back of an expected moderation in food prices.

“Inflation is now broad-based and spreading to areas other than food, especially manufacturing,” RBI deputy governor Subir Gokarn said.