Inflation Due To COVID-19, Russia-Ukraine War: Union Minister

Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, on Wednesday said that inflation is an international issue and that the world is facing it, listing the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia crisis as the drivers of the price hike.

"It is an international issue. On one hand, there is COVID-19 pandemic and on the other, a conflict is ongoing between Russia and Ukraine. In such a situation, the world is facing inflation. Despite this, the government is continuously trying to control it," Goyal said at a press conference when asked about the continuous distribution of food grains under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana despite the price rise of food grains.

The Union Minister also said that it is known fact that oil prices are high all over the world.

The Union Minister said that the Centre has given its nod to increase the import of pulses and oilseeds if required and the government has completely abolished the duties on all these things which are in short supply in India.

Assuring that the government is taking note of controlling the inflation, Goyal said, "Yesterday, I spoke to Brazil about increasing cooperation and import-export of commodities to provide facilities to the citizens."

India's retail inflation surged to a 17-month high of 6.95 per cent in March from 6.07 per cent in the previous month due to a sharp increase in food prices, the National Statistical Office (NSO) data showed on Tuesday.

Retail inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), has remained above the upper limit of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) tolerance band for the third consecutive month. The retail inflation stood at 6.01 per cent in January 2022.

The inflation is sharply higher when compared with the previous year. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation stood at 5.52 per cent in March 2021.

(With Inputs from ANI)

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