Will break vicious cycle of high inflation-interest rate: FM

Says slowdown in economic growth coupled with high inflationary pressure poses a challenge to the country's economy

Committing to break the vicious cycle of high inflation and high interest rate, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today made a case for putting in place strict measures and special courts to stop hoarding and black marketing, in addition to reviewing the commodity laws.

"Long inflationary trends have adversely impacted the food and nutritional security of the common man. We are committed to breaking this vicious cycle of high inflation and high interest rates," he said during a pre-Budget meeting with state finance ministers.

He further said that slowdown in economic growth coupled with high inflationary pressure poses a challenge to the country's economy, which has crawled at sub 5% in the recent years.

"...There have been states registering much robust growth. This is clearly a case of sum being less than its parts and needs to be addressed through our concerted efforts.

"Mandate of 2014 clearly spells out that economic growth cannot be compromised at any cost and is sine qua non to reap the benefits of the demographic dividend," Jaitely said.

He also sought states' support in tackling temporary fluctuation in prices.

"We also would like to evolve a mechanism which addresses the structural issues that create supply bottlenecks. We need to look at the Essential Commodities act and put in place strict measures and special courts to stop hoarding and black marketing," he said.

He said the need for a Single Agriculture Market and real time information dissemination on prices to farmers and consumers are areas which need to be addressed.

As part of the economic integration, he further said Goods and Services Tax (GST) is one pending issue, on which now consensus needs to be built and "implementation done at an early date".

"Implementation of GST has the potential to significantly improve the growth story...There are some vexatious issues which only need resolution. I wish and hope that these will be sorted out sooner than later," he said.