Cabinet Committee on Prices may discuss inflation tomorrow

Inflation which remains one of the top concerns of the government, is likely to come up for review tomorrow at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Prices (CCP).    

The CCP to be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may also review differences between the minimum support price of different commodities and the market rates, sources said.     

The Committee on Secretaries met today to take stock of the situation following decline in prices of crude oil and building of comfortable food reserves of foodgrain.

But it was felt that a continuous vigil would have to be kept on prices.     

While inflation, measured on the Whole Sale Price Index, eased slightly to 12.4 per cent for week ended August 16 from 12.63 in previous week, it remains an area of grave concern for the government in an election year.    

To its relief, however, the crude oil prices have dropped sharply to $109 per barrel off the record high of $147.27 on July 11.     

Finance Minister P Chidambaram had stated last week that it was too early to draw a conclusion on a slight drop in inflation.

"I don't think any conclusion can be drawn from weekly data," he said.     

Government and the Reserve Bank has taken various steps to cool off inflation.

These include hardening of interest rates, removing or slashing import duties and putting export restrictions on number of essential items.