Govt giving priority to keep inflation in check:

Govt giving priority to keep inflation in check: Chidambaram





New Delhi, Feb 26 :

Amidst the wholesale-price based inflation touching the six-month high of 4.11 per cent (for the week ended January 26), the government today said it has given high priority to arrest the price rise.
"The government has given high priority to check inflation," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

Both fiscal and monetary measures have been adopted by the government for this purpose, he said.

Elaborating on anti-inflationary measures, he said, the government has allowed private trade to import wheat at zero duty. The customs duty on pulses has also been done away with.

In order to augment the domestic availability of foodgrain, he said, central issue price for wheat and rice has been kept unchanged from July 2002, while a ban has been imposed on export of non-Basmati rice.

Besides, futures trading in tur, urad, wheat and rice, has been suspended, while strengthening the monitoring mechanism of the public distribution system, he said.

About the monetary steps, he said, cash reserve ratio has been increased on many occasions to make it 7.5 per cent. Repo rate has also been revised upwards to suck up surplus liquidity from the market. PTI