Kerala’s effective market intervention yields lowest inflation rate in India: CM Vijayan

In the current fiscal, retail inflation has surpassed the Reserve Bank of India's comfort level of 6%, primarily due to higher prices of tomatoes, vegetables, and other food items.

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala, which is a consumer state, has tackled inflation with “effective market interventions” and the price rise is lower than the national average, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.

The inflation rate is also the lowest among the states, he said amid concerns about rising prices nationwide.

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Inaugurating the statewide network of Onam fairs by the Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation (Supplyco) on Friday, Vijayan said the Left government was proud of the fact that it kept its election promise not to increase the prices of 13 essential commodities for the common man.

Accusing the Centre of ‘failing’ to control prices, he claimed Kerala had the lowest inflation rate in the country.

“Kerala has one of the lowest inflation rates in the country due to an effective market intervention by the State government. We’re a consumer state, so the price rise should usually reflect in our state as well. But all the figures show that we were able to keep the inflation rate much below the national average,” Vijayan said.

Vijayan said the central government had ignored the impact of price rise on people.

Targeting the opposition parties in the state protesting the alleged failure of Supplyco in curbing price hike, the Left leader said people with vested interests are tarnishing the image of the corporation through misinformation.

“Supplyco had registered a turnover of Rs 252 crore last financial year, while this year the turnover is Rs 270 crore,” he noted, praising the corporation.

The CM said one of the key promises made by the previous LDF government, when it came to power was not to increase the prices of 13 essential commodities for the common man.

“The government is proud that it has been able to adhere to it till date,” he said.

Vijayan also said district-level Supplyco stalls will function from Saturday and the taluk-level fairs from August 23, with facilities akin to modern supermarkets.

Steps have been taken to distribute five kg of rice to white and blue card holders of the state through ration shops in connection with the Onam festival season.

“Consumer fed’s 1,600 Onachanthas (markets during Onam season) will be opened soon. The government is making market interventions to make essential commodities available to everyone at affordable prices,” he said.

Vijayan’s statement came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the union government will be taking more measures to control inflation and minimise the burden of price rise on people.

The PM’s remarks on August 15 came a day after official data showed that retail inflation surged to a 15-month high of 7.44 per cent in July.

For the first time in the current fiscal, retail inflation, primarily driven by costlier tomatoes, vegetables and other food items, overshot the Reserve Bank of India’s comfort level of 6 per cent.

The Consumer Price Index-based inflation surged to 7.44 per cent in July, much higher than 4.87 per cent in June. Retail inflation stood at 6.71 per cent in July 2022 and the previous high was recorded at 7.79 per cent in April 2022.

RBI has the mandate to keep retail inflation in the range of 2 to 6 per cent and after remaining above the upper limit for most of the 2022-23 financial year, inflation was in the central bank’s comfort zone this fiscal till June.