NEW DELHI, May 24 (UPI) -- India has said it is committed to high growth rates and low inflation, and would take steps to keep prices increases in check.
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has asked the provinces to take strong action against hoarders and local black markets to ensure that supply channels were not blocked.
"If need be, they should also invoke the Essential Commodities Act to deal with the situation," the minister said, adding that at times the prices of essential commodities rose due to the blocking of supply channels.
Chidambaram said the government would ensure that adequate supplies of essential commodities such as sugar and pulses were available, and that they would be imported if necessary.
"We expect to contain inflation between four and five percent this fiscal (year) too. Last year, the Reserve Bank of India had indicated inflation at five percent, but we were able to keep it below five percent," the finance minister said, explaining that inflation had to be viewed in the context of the overall economic scenario.
"In a developing country like India, with a high growth of eight percent, some inflation is inevitable," he said, adding that when there was low inflation the growth was also low, and "when credit expands, it impacts prices."
In the last few years, Chidambaram said, the prices of some commodities had fallen while others had increased.
The government's immediate concern, the finance minister said, was to devise ways of tackling the rise in the prices of pulses, as there was a divergence in demand and supply.
