Kamal Nath: steps on inflation to show results

Enlarge Photo Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath attends a news conference in New Delhi in this...

Fri, May 16 04:12 PM

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's fiscal and monetary measures to contain inflation will show results in the next two to three weeks, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said on Friday.

Data on Friday showed annual inflation at 7.83 percent on May 3, a 3-½ year high, and the provisional rate for March 8 was revised up to 7.78 percent from 5.92 percent.

"The finance ministry has taken some fiscal and monetary measures, which we believe will yield results in the next two to three weeks," Nath told TV channel NDTV Profit.

The Reserve Bank of India raised the cash reserve ratio, the level of deposits banks need to keep with it, by 25 basis points to 8.25 percent in its policy review on April 29, after announcing a half-percentage point increase in the ratio earlier in the month.

The ruling coalition, under pressure to check prices ahead of state and national polls this year and next, has lowered import duties on a series of items, and curbed some exports to keep domestic prices down and supplies adequate.

(Reporting by Anurag Joshi)

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