No need for knee jerk reaction due to high crude oil prices: Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said that there was no need for a "knee jerk" reaction due to high prices of global crude oil.

"There is no straight-line movement of global crude oil prices," Jaitley said at a media briefing after the meeting of the Union Cabinet.

According to Jaitley, crude oil prices edged higher in April and May whereas they calmed down in June and July.

"As I am saying these are not situations which merit knee-jerk and panic reaction. There is no straight-line movement in global oil prices," the minister said.

When asked about the country's preparations to deal with any upsurge in global crude oil prices, Jaitley at a press briefing here said: "Policy formulation is never a rigid process."

Recently, geo-political factors such as trade wars fears, upcoming Iran sanctions and conflicts in Middle East along with supply side constraints have led to a sharp increase in global crude oil prices.

The rise in global crude oil prices pushes the domestic cost of petrol and diesel higher as the country is a net importer of crude oil.

--IANS

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