By IANS
New Delhi : Congress president Sonia Gandhi, addressing a huge rally here Sunday, expressed concern over increasing inflation in the country and said the government was trying to check it.
“Inflation is a matter of concern,” Gandhi said at the Dhanyawad-Abhinandan rally organised at the Ramlila Ground by the Congress to thank the Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for waiving off Rs.600 billion in farmers’ loans.
Referring to the increase in prices of petroleum products, Gandhi said that the government was trying its best to control inflation.
Manmohan Singh, who was another key speaker at the rally, pointed out that the government did not hike the price of kerosene oil. “There was a modest revision in petrol and diesel prices, though the international prices have considerably gone up,” Singh said.
India’s annual rate of inflation, as measured by the official Wholesale Price Index (WPI), was ruling at 5.02 percent for the week ended Feb 23, against 4.89 percent for the week before, showed data released Friday.
The steep inflation rate was on account of higher prices of fruits, vegetables, oilseeds, meats and milk. The government hopes to keep the inflation rate at around four percent in the current fiscal.