Back-breaking inflation has created financial emergency: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said rising prices of essential commodities and unemployment have thrown the country into a state of "financial emergency".

He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "snatching away" the poor man's bread and "breaking into pieces" the domestic budget of Indians.

"Back-breaking inflation, life-threatening unemployment and falling GDP has created a state of 'financial emergency'. Rise in prices of vegetables, pulses, edible oil, LPG gas and other food items has snatched away the poor's bread and butter. Modi ji has broken the domestic budgets of countrymen into pieces," Gandhi said on Twitter.

Retail inflation rose to about five-and-half year high of 7.35 per cent in December 2019, surpassing the RBI's comfort level, mainly due to spiralling prices of vegetables as onions were selling costlier.

The unexpected jump in inflation diminished the chances of the RBI cutting interest rate at its next monetary policy review due in early February.

As per data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Monday, the spike in inflation in the vegetable segment was 60.5 per cent during the month compared to December 2018.