(a)whether the Government proposes to tighten/revamp its monetary policy to
contain the ever increasing prices of various consumer goods in the country;
(b)if so, the details thereof; and
(c)the likely impact of the said move on the overall inflation in the
country?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI NAMO NARAIN MEENA)
(a): Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is an autonomous body. It reviews the
Monetary Policy and takes measures as appropriate in terms of its perception
of facilitating growth and containing inflation.
(b): Containing the inflation and facilitating growth has been the two
objectives of the monetary policy stance of RBI during 2011-12 and 2012-13.
The RBI has hiked the Repo rate 13 times, cumulatively by 375 bps from 4.75
per cent to 8.5 per cent, between March 2010 and January 2012. In 2012-13,
it has reduced the repo rates by 50 basis points in April, 2012, 25 basis
points in January, 2013 and again 25 basis points in March, 2013.
(c) : The Government and RBI monitors the price situation regularly as
price stability remains high on its agenda. Fiscal, Administrative and
Monetary policy measures have been taken to contain price rise of
essential commodities. As a result of these measures adopted by the
Government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the headline inflation in terms
of WPI has come down from a peak of 10.88 per cent in April, 2010 to 5.96
per cent in March, 2013.