Inflation, price rise likely to be controlled by year end: PM

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has confidence that inflation and price rise would be bridled by another two months and a number of steps were underway to check various forces which were fuelling inflation.
“We have several instruments, the monetary policy instruments, the fiscal policy instrument, public distribution instruments.
We have to use all these instruments together to bring about a credible price behaviour. I am confident by the end of the year you would see some positive results,” the Prime Minister told newspersons on board a special aircraft on return from Pretoria late last night.
He said there were many factors which created inflationary environment including the variables on the supply and demand side.
Besides “the international environment has also not been very helpful because of the energy price rise, and the fact that the exchange rate has recently deprecated, complicates the task of controlling prices,” he said.
The government had taken feedback from the experts about the “various factors which are at work, which have been fuelling inflation, and how we can bring inflation under control by using various instruments to check the trend.” The Government was also ensuring that the economic downturn ‘ill winds’ did not affect the growth processes of the country adversely and the country achieved a growth rate of 8 to 8.5 per cent despite the adversity of the international environment.
But to achieve this figure it was necessary that the tempo of investment particularly in Infrastructure sector, agriculture and energy saving technologies was maintained.
“And I am confident that just as in the year 2008 we showed to the world that we can swim against the wind blowing from abroad, it is still possible for India to maintain a healthy growth rate of about 8 to 8.5 per cent” he asserted.
The Prime Minister however, expressed concern over the problems like poverty, unemployment, ignorance and disease which were afflicting millions of people in the country.
“This is the most important task before the government and to achieve the goal we have to walk on several legs, to ensure the country economy grows fast enough,” he said.
He admitted though it was difficult to achieve the 12th Five Year Plan target of 9 per cent growth rate in present world situation, “we believe it is achievable, and if we simultaneously lay more emphasis on infrastructure, education, health and skill development.”