The annual wholesale price index based food inflation has surged to 17.56 per cent during the week ended January 23 making it tough for the Manmohan Singh, government which is currently under fire from various quarters for failing to the arrest the rising prices.

Food inflation was easing for last three weeks due to decline in prices of some essential commodities. However, the trend again reversed after significant rise in prices of potatoes and pulses during the reporting week. Inflation for the primary articles group eased 0.2 per cent to stand at 284.9 points against 285.5 points in a week ago.

The reporting week saw decline in tea, arhar, urad, fruits, vegetables, ragi and eggs prices but coffee, gram and wheat turned marginally dearer. Fuel group surged 0.2 per cent with 3 per cent rise in diesel prices.

The annual rate of inflation surged to 5.88 per cent for the latest week against 5.70 per cent for the previous week. The annual wholesale price index-based inflation rose to 7.31 per cent making the Central Bank to revise its inflation forecast to 8.5 per cent for the financial year.