NEW DELHI: Inflation containment measures are on track and the government is undertaking all the steps to moderate food inflation, a top government official said. Refuting the media reports saying that the Centre is planning a Rs 1 trillion package to arrest soaring prices, the official said vegetable prices will cool down going forward and it is just a temporary seasonal phase.
The official further denied the reports claiming that the Centre is planning to lower taxes on fuel, ease import tariffs on cooking oil and wheat. According to the reports, the centre is considering to reallocate Rs 1 trillion from the budgets of different ministries to cool food and fuel prices.
“We have already taken steps to cool food prices. We restricted export of wheat and rice. Meanwhile, for vegetables, pulses and oil seeds too, we are taking action,” a top official said. Retail inflation hit a 15-month high at 7.44% in July from 4.87% in June on high food prices.
It was the first time since February 2023 that inflation surpassed the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) upper band of 6%. According to the National Statistical Office (NSO), the food inflation rate surged massively to 11.51% in July from 4.49% in the previous month, driven by steep prices of vegetables and tomatoes (37%), pulses (13.3%) and cereals (13%).
“The centre is trying to tame inflation by engaging in open market sale of rice and wheat. We are expecting food prices to come down on negative wholesale price-based index inflation,” the official stated. The WPI in July came in at -1.36%. This was the fourth time in a row that it was negative.
High vegetable prices temporary, seasonal
Refuting the media reports saying that the Centre is planning a `1 lakh cr package to arrest soaring prices, the official said vegetable prices will cool down going forward and it is just a temporary seasonal phase