Govt to tame inflation: Chidambaram

Talking to reporters here after addressing the members of Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry, he said, "You can't announce something on Friday and expect to have its impact on Saturday. You must be patient. When this government came into office in May 2004, inflation had already crossed 7 per cent mark, we brought it down. In November 2007, inflation was 3.1 per cent. In fact, in January and February it was well under control. The current rate of inflation will also be tamed, but my appeal to people is that you must be patient."

He said food prices will come down sooner than other prices. For example, he said, "We have already procured 154 lakh tonnes of wheat as on day, as against a target of 150 lakh tonnes. Last year, we procured only 111 lakh tonnes. This will help in bringing down the prices of commodities and contain inflation".

WPI-index based inflation touched a 42-month high of 7.57 per cent for the week ended April 19 as compared to 7.33 per cent for the week ended April 12, according to government data issued today.