New Delhi, May 9
“More administrative steps will be taken as and when necessary,” said the defensive finance minister P Chidambaram, as inflation rose to a 42-month high of 7.61 per cent in the week ended April 26 due to costlier vegetables, fruits ,tea, spices and some manufactured products.
While the inflation has inched up moderately to 7.61 per cent from 7.57 per cent, the finance minister said the movement “in our assessment means that it is stable and not statistically significant”. The minister further said, “In fact it (inflation rate) has come as a big relief that it is more or less stable at 7.6 per cent. Even two weeks ago I said inflation will remain at this level for some time before it begins the downward trend”.
He added that the government had increased pressure on the cement manufacturers to slash the prices.
The government, which at the moment is in the panic mode, continues to believe that the series of measures it has taken will work. “When the steps that we have taken take effect, there will be moderation in prices in
various sectors of the economy. One must have faith that these steps will yield results and we will continue to do our best to curb any further rise in prices,” he said.
Inflation, the finance minister said, is not coming down globally because “there has been continuous rise in crude oil prices which touched $124 per barrel and also due to a continuous rise in food prices. Commodity prices have not yet started moderating in international market.”
The government has so far announced measures that carry a revenue implication of Rs 6,300 crore to contain inflation, while Reserve Bank has increased the percentage of cash banks should keep in reserve (CRR) to tighten money supply.
