Mukherjee: Listing priorities

New Delhi, Nov. 26: The government today said it was concerned about rising prices, especially of food articles, and would take appropriate fiscal and monetary measures to contain them.

“We are deeply concerned when prices go high. We will have to control monetary, credit and fiscal policies,” finance minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha.

“In a growing economy there will be inflationary pressures. It is the responsibility of the government to moderate inflation,” he said.

Food inflation rose to 15.58 per cent for the week ended November 14 on the back of potato prices, which have more than doubled in the past one year.

Prices of other essential items such as pulses and onion rose more than 25 per cent in the wholesale market, government data on inflation showed.

Food inflation stood at 14.55 per cent in the preceding week.

For the week under review, pulses became costlier by 35.6 per cent, wheat, 12.53 per cent, rice, 11.89 per cent, milk, 11.36 per cent and fruits, 10.97 per cent over the past year.

At a broader level, the wholesale price index for primary articles rose to 11.04 per cent, while that for fuels fell by 1.51 per cent.

Petrol, diesel and cooking gas became cheaper by 11.86 per cent, 5.88 per cent and 7.42 per cent, respectively.

Prices of potatoes have risen 131.64 per cent since April, while vegetable prices increased 62.42 per cent.

The Reserve Bank of India and the government have warned that annual inflation based on the wholesale price index may rise to 6-6.5 per cent by the end of this fiscal. The Prime Minister’s economic advisory council sees the rate at 6 per cent.

The monthly rate of inflation for all commodities with 1993-94 as the base year was up to 1.34 per cent in October from 0.5 per cent in the previous month.