Inflation comes down within tolerance band as result of steps taken by government to check price rise: FM Nirmala Sitharaman
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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the inflation has come down within the tolerance band as a result of the steps taken by the government to check price rise, especially in perishable commodities. She said the government is seized of the difficulties, which arise due to shortage of perishable goods, which are not grown in India. She added that the committee sits and reviews periodically, and the efforts have shown on the ground that inflation is now within the tolerable band.
The minister said that in order to check the volatility in prices of onion, the government has progressively increased its buffer size from 1 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) in 2020-21 to 7 LMT in 2023-24. As of February 3, 2024, a total of 6.32 LMT of onion was procured, and 3.96 LMT of Grade-A onion was released through retail sales, e-Nam auction and bulk sales. Currently, steps are being taken so that the preservation of very highly perishable commodities, like onion, can be improved and added that lots of steps have been taken by the government, particularly for meeting the shortage in supply of perishable goods.
India's retail inflation has declined from an average of 6.8 per cent in April-December 2022 to 5.5 per cent in the corresponding period of 2023. The retail inflation is now stable and within the notified tolerance band of 2 per cent to 6 per cent.
