TIL Desk/Business/New Delhi/ Defending the jump in India’s wholesale price-indexed (WPI) inflation in August to 3.24 per cent, nearly double that of July, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said it was well below the target of 4 per cent.
“During monsoon, there is a spike in vegetable prices. It is usually the highest level of inflation in the entire year. We have touched only 3.24 per cent. It is very reasonable and modest against the double digit inflation seen during the earlier UPA rule. In the last one year, consistently inflation is under 4 per cent target of the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy committee,” Jaitley told.
“We have brought down prices of essential commodities as a result of which the last three years have been the best phase of inflation management. A statutory monetary policy committee has set target of inflation management at 4 per cent,” he said.
The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI, stood at 3.24 per cent for August 2017 (over August 2016) compared with 1.88 per cent (provisional) for the previous month and 1.09 per cent during the corresponding month of the previous year, according to data released by the Commerce Ministry. Fuel and power were the major contributors to the rise in wholesale inflation.
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