The recent announcement of minimum support prices (MSP) for various Kharif crops has once again called into question certain aspects of the official policy towards agricultural pricing. True to pattern, it has come in late. The monsoon arrived at least a week before, and many farmers might have already chosen the crops to sow. The world over governments through their price support programmes, consisting of assured minimum prices and subsidies,...

Batten down the hatches? Pull out all the stops? It might be difficult to find the cliché that adequately emphasises the urgency with which the government needs to tackle inflation. The worry is not just that May inflation was in double digits (10.16 per cent). It is also a fact that prices of commodities other than food are now beginning to gallop. Inflation in non-food manufactured products (often referred to...

India’s food and fuel price inflation eased in early June, easing pressure on Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to speed up its process of tightening monetary policy. India’s food price index rose 16.12% in the year to 5 June, snapping a two-week rise, and lower than the previous week’s annual reading of 16.74%, government data released on Thursday showed. The fuel price index climbed 13.18%, compared with an annual rise of 14.23%...

Food inflation may increase further in the coming weeks, but there is no cause for alarm as the rise is more the result of the low-base effect, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahulwalia said on Wednesday. As of May 29, food inflation stood at 16.74 per cent. “It is quite possible that when the data comes out on Thursday, you may see a little increase in food inflation. That...

While it may appear paradoxical that at a time when the government is fighting inflationary pressures, it has chosen to hike the minimum support price (MSP) for foodgrains, the reality is that prevailing market prices for almost all foodgrains, oilseeds and cereals are way above even these newly announced prices. Therefore, despite the substantial hike in MSP for kharif crops, especially for pulses, the impact on both market and farmers’...