FM asks RBI to take necessary steps to check price rise

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee says, rising food prices is a worry and the Reserve Bank should take whatever steps needed to tame the prices. He also talked about fiscal steps required to bring down the prices. His remarks at the AGM of Calcutta Chamber of Commerce come ahead of monetary review by RBI next week.

Mr. Mukerjee said, he has asked the state governments to strengthen the Public Distribution System for providing food to the poor. Despite the jump in industrial growth and 8.8 per cent GDP growth in the first quarter of this fiscal, Mr. Mukherjee said he was sticking to his earlier growth projections of 8.5 to 8.75 per cent. Food inflation shot up to 11.47 per cent towards the end of August from 10.38 per cent in the previous week as rains disrupted supply of essential items.