New Delhi, July 29 2010: The government, which has been braving concerted Opposition attack on rising food and fuel prices within and outside Parliament, received a momentary breather today as the food inflation fell to single digit at 9.67% for the first time this year.

Falling for the second week in a row, the food inflation slipped by 2.80 percent in the week that ended on July 17 from 12.47% in the previous week, driven mainly by falling prices of vegetables, especially potatoes and onions.

"It is a very welcome news. Inflation has moved pretty much on cues as I had expected. It feels good. However, it should not be overinterpreted," said Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu.

The food inflation came down to single digit for the first time since the government in November 2009 started giving separate figures for inflation of primary articles.

On July 5, opposition parties, led by National Democratic Alliance (NDA), had organised an all-India agitation on rising prices, which saw right-wing BJP and Left parties coming together on the same issue.