Inflation is not what you think it is. While wholesale price-based indices show that inflation has come down – indeed turned negative – a lot of that is based on statistical base-year effect. On the ground, inflation pressures are real, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said.
“The real
market prices are reflected in consumer prices which is very high and the wholesale price inflation is also expected to be around 6-6.5 per cent,” told the HT Leadership Summit.
The minister added that in an inter-linked global economy, inflation cannot be managed by domestic policies alone, as commodity prices were beyond the control of a nation.
“Last year’s high inflation was a result of the high commodity prices and high food prices,” he said.