Lower-than-expected grain production will raise inflationary risks
- El Nino effect will increase the risk of uncertainty regarding the progress of monsoon and will also increase food prices. That the central government is assisting the Reserve Bank of India on measures to control inflation. The central government has also hinted that it may use trade policy to control prices and last week the center decided to impose export duty on onion. However, this was not the first step towards controlling prices as the government had recently imposed restrictions on the export of rice and the storage of some other food items such as pulses. Consumer price index-based inflation rose to a 15-month high of 7.44 percent in July and is expected to remain above the central bank's upper-end target range in August. This rate has increased due to the rise in food prices, adding to the risk of uncertainty about the progress of the monsoon due to the El Nino effect. Various parts of the country have received relatively low rainfall, which may also affect agricultur