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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said inflation has risen due to supply-side seasonality and is being continuously monitored along with efforts to moderate prices of essential commodities. Sitharaman also mentioned the efforts to bring down the cost of fuel and natural gas. He said that these are imported in the country and due to Kovid and Russia-Ukraine war, fuel prices are high in the global markets. He told a press conference here, “The Prime Minister had directed us to cut the excise duty on fuel itself in November 2021.” Due to this an announcement was made during Diwali. After that in June, 2022 again we cut the excise duty. All these factors softened the fuel prices to some extent.
Russia-Ukraine war boosted prices
Responding to questions about inflation and measures to bring it down, the Finance Minister said, “But when we talk about fuel or natural gas, we need to understand one thing. These products are imported and especially with the covid pandemic and the subsequent Russia-Ukraine war, prices have shot up and imports continue. At the center level, we have cut excise duty to bring down its price. He said that the Group of Ministers keeps an eye on essential goods and their prices. Additional stock was issued as per the situation. “When the price of rice shot up, we released rice from the buffer stock.”
Government is taking steps to bring down the prices
Sitharaman said, “The central government is continuously taking steps to bring down the prices. This is the reason that consumer price index based inflation has come down from 6 per cent to 5.8 per cent. Inflation has increased due to supply-related problems at the seasonal level, which is being constantly monitored and measures are being taken to bring it down. He also hit back at the Congress and its leader Siddaramaiah for criticizing the party.
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