“Food prices will come down sooner than others… we expect food prices to moderate,” Finance Minister P Chidambaram told media on the sidelines of a an event organised by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry. “Inflation will be tamed,” he assured.
The inflation touched a 42-month high of 7.57 per cent for the week ended April 19, against 7.33 per cent in the previous week.
“There had been a very sharp rise in the prices of food, crude oil and commodities. All these have come together at the same time, unlike other occasions; when the price of one was high, the other had remained stable. We are taking a number of measures, it will take some time to have some effect,” he said.
Chidambaram said 154 lakh tonnes of wheat had been procured, surpassing the target of 150 lakh tonnes. “We have also procured 230 lakh tonnes of rice, much higher than last year”, he said.
