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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Real cure for Inflation headache: Fix rural infrastructure, process more food

Real cure for Inflation headache: Fix rural infrastructure, process more food

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published Published on Apr 17, 2014   modified Modified on Apr 17, 2014
-The Economic Times

 

Inflation - retail as well as wholesale - has increased in March over relatively benign levels in February. At 5.7%, the growth of inflation based on the wholesale price index ( WPI) was at a three-month high, compared to a ninemonth low of 4.7% seen in February. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) now sets policy rates by looking at inflation based on the consumer price index (CPI). And even here, things do not look good. After having fallen to 8% in February, CPI inflation has crept up to 8.3% in March. Yet, we believe that the RBI can afford to hold its policy rates, if not cut rates marginally, as a signal to boost growth, during its next policy review in June. Isn't that a contradiction? After all, faced with inflation, central banks tighten rates. But the current inflation spiral in India stems from things that are outside the pale of monetary policy: deep structural defects that boost the prices of food, especially vegetables, meat, eggs and milk.

Eggs, meat and fish became dearer by more than 11% in March, compared to 9.7% a month before. Vegetable prices soared by 8.6% and fruit cost 16.2% more. Overall food inflation was 9.9% in March, compared to 8.1% in February. High food inflation eventually seeps into wage inflation, making services, especially in India's vast informal sector, far more costly. Our food policy has so far concentrated mostly on cereals, but without success. Our grain stocks are at a record 80 million tonnes. The government should sell a lot of it, in relatively small quantities, across the entire country to moderate cereal prices. An entirely different approach is required for the rest of the food basket.

India's rural productivity has to go up. Investment must flow into infrastructure such as cold chains and rural roads to create markets for vegetable, fish and poultry farmers. Around 40% of such produce is wasted on the way to the market now. To prevent that, food processing must penetrate all the way into villages. To help that, power sector reforms are required urgently. Together, these measures can create jobs for millions of young people in rural India, besides taming inflation.


The Economic Times, 17 April, 2014, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/editorial/real-cure-for-inflation-headache-fix-rural-infrastructure-process-more-food/articleshow/33842092.cms


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