New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the government will be taking more measures to tackle inflation and minimise the burden of price rise on people. In his address to the nation on the 77th Independence Day, the prime minister said that his government has taken several measures to contain price rise and mentioned that inflation is impacting the economies of the world in the post-Covid period.
“Compared to the previous period, we have also had some success (in controlling inflation), but we cannot be satisfied with that… We have to take more steps to minimise the burden of inflation on people. We will take those steps. My efforts will continue,” Modi said.
The prime minister’s remarks come a day after official data showed that retail inflation surged to a 15-month high of 7.44 per cent in July.
For the first time in the current fiscal, retail inflation, primarily driven by costlier tomatoes, vegetables and other food items, overshot the Reserve Bank of India’s comfort level of 6 per cent.
While talking about inflation, Modi said that even before the world could emerge from the Covid pandemic, the war began.
“Today, the world is facing the crisis of inflation. Inflation has gripped the economy of the whole world. We also bring the goods which are needed from the world… we import goods. It is our misfortune that we have to import inflation as well,” he said.
In its efforts to check price rise, RBI hiked the key interest rate by 250 basis points since May 2022 but has left the rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent since April.
On its part, the government has slashed import duties on edible oil, and banned exports of wheat. It has also prohibited export of broken rice and non-basmati white rice.
Besides, the government is selling wheat and rice from its buffer stock.
Amid a steep rise in the prices of tomatoes, cooperatives, on behalf of the government, are selling the kitchen staple at Rs 50 per kilogram.
The Consumer Price Index-based inflation surged to 7.44 per cent in July, much higher than 4.87 per cent in June. Retail inflation stood at 6.71 per cent in July 2022 and the previous high was recorded at 7.79 per cent in April 2022.
RBI has the mandate to keep retail inflation in the range of 2 to 6 per cent and after remaining above the upper limit for most of the 2022-23 financial year, inflation was in the central bank’s comfort zone this fiscal till June.
Last week, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das warned of a substantial increase in headline inflation in the near-term and revised upwards the inflation forecast for the second quarter to 6.2 per cent.
