Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram assured the nation today that the prices would come down and inflation would be brought under control.
Bangalore, May 2 : Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram assured the nation today that the prices would come down and inflation would be brought under control.
After addressing the members of Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry, he said, "You can't announce something on Friday and expect to have its impact on Saturday. You must be patient."
"When this government came into office in May 2004, inflation had already crossed 7 per cent mark, we brought it down. In November 2007, inflation was 3.1 per cent. In fact, in January and February it was well under control. The current rate of inflation will also be tamed, but my appeal to people is that you must be patient," he added.
"However, despite RBI's inflation control measures and the Government's announcement of sacrificing more than Rs 6,300 crore of revenue to contain inflation, the wholesale price-based inflation rose 0.24 per cent points from 7.33 per cent in the previous week.
Crisil Principle Economist D K Joshi said, "Steps taken by the Government and the RBI would lead to easing of inflationary pressure in the future and (inflation) can come down to 5.5 per cent."
The Reserve Bank of India Governor Y. V. Reddy said, "There are concerns that demand pressures, which have been reasonably contained so far are being coupled with supply-side factors, which if not temporary, could impact domestic inflation significantly."
"Inflationary pressures from international food and energy prices appear to have amplified and by current indications, are likely to remain so for some time," he added.
ANI