Inflation under control, government will bring it further down: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

NEW DELHI:  A day after Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra taunted the Narendra Modi government with her ‘Who is Pappu now’ speech in Parliament, while referring to the state of the country’s economy, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday took the floor to defend the government on economy as well as to hit back at the Opposition MP. 

Sitharaman said Moitra only needs to look at her own backyard to find the Pappu, saying West Bengal has not implemented many policies of the Centre, which would have benefited people of the state. The FM, while responding to the debate on additional grant in the Lok Sabha, said that inflation has come down from its highs and is now within the tolerable band of the Reserve Bank of India. She claimed the government has taken steps to bring it further down. 

“Consumer-price based inflation for November 2022 came down to 5.8%. It is difficult to understand when the Opposition raises concerns over inflation.” Taking a dig at the Opposition, Sitharaman said that the inflation data in 2013, when the UPA was in power, was as high as 19.33%.

The minister also pointed out that wholesale inflation in November had come down to 5.85% the lowest in the past 21 months versus 8.38% in October. “Food inflation is at 2.17% versus 6.48% month-on-month. So, inflation control is being done under the guidance of PM Narendra Modi,” Sitharaman said.

Countering the attack on the government on the rupee’s incessant fall, the FM said the Indian currency has strengthened against every currency including the dollar. “India has performed much better than many emerging economies. While Turkish Lira depreciated by 22%, Japanses Yen depreciated by 11.9%, South African Rand 15.1% and Chinese currency depreciated by 10.6% against the US dollar.” 

She continued: “The size of the rupee appreciation in April-November was 15.3% year-on-year against Japanese Yen, 7.6% compared to Sterling, and 7.5% with respect to Euro, as per RBI data.”  Hitting out at the Opposition’s question on whether the Centre is going soft on Nirav Modi, Sitharaman said the government is trying to get back the money he swindled during the UPA regime.