TOPIC: HOW INFLATION IS BEING DEALT BY RBI AND THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA?

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THE CONTEXT: The RBI and government of India took several measures after retail Inflation hit 7.8 per cent in April and the wholesale prices crossed 15 per cent reflecting the input cost pressures. Retail Inflation has been trending above the Reserve Bank’s upper tolerance level of 6 per cent for the past three months. The rising food and fuel prices have made the situation worse in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war. The Increases in the prices of imported fuels, materials, and components increase domestic costs of production and lead to increases in the prices of domestically produced goods. Thus the Inflation is mostly imported in nature. This article explains in detail about approach and steps taken by RBI and the government of India.

THE BACKGROUND

• The main driver of the surge in the consumer price index (CPI) was the increase in food prices, which rose from 0.7% in September 2021 to 8.4% in April 2022. Among food products, the highest increase was in edible oil and fats (17.3%) in April 2022. This was mainly fuelled by the rise in international edible oil prices after the disruption of trade following the war and the ban on oil exports by Indonesia.
• The prices of services continue to accelerate even after the containment of the pandemic. For instance, the prices of goods and services consumed by households have shot up from 1.9% in April 2021 to 8% now. And the price increases of recreation and health services have moved up above 7%, while that of personal care is above 8%, and that of transport and communication above 10%. All these belie the claim that supply-side bottlenecks are the main reason for the rising prices.

MEASURES TAKEN BY RBI AND THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

STEPS TAKEN BY RBI TO CONTROL INFLATION

• The Reserve Bank of India called an off-cycle policy meeting and increased the cash reserve ratio by 50 basis points to 4.5% and the repo rate by 40 basis points to 4.4%, the first-rate hike after August 2018.

STEPS TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA TO CONTROL INFLATION

1. The government announced an excise tax cut of Rs 8 per litre on petrol and Rs 6 per litre on diesel. The government will bear a shortfall of Rs 1 lakh crore due to the excise duty cut on petrol and diesel.
2. Taking a cue from Centre. Three states – Kerala, Rajasthan and Maharashtra – also announced a reduction in state taxes. The reduction in pump prices of petrol and diesel will bring down the logistics cost for the industry.
3. The government also reduced the import duty on key raw materials and inputs for the steel and plastic industry.
4. The government has levied export duty on some steel products and raised it on iron ore and concentrates. Together with the import duty cut, the price of steel will come down.
5. During the current and next financial year, the government has permitted duty-free imports of 20 lakh tonnes of crude soybean and crude sunflower oil.
6. Under the Ujjwala Yojana, the government has also granted a Rs 200 per cylinder subsidy. This will benefit around nine crore beneficiaries.
7. The government set a limit of 100 lakh tonnes on sugar exports to ensure that there is adequate stock when the sugar season begins in October to cover three months’ worth of consumption.
8. The Centre has also regulated sugar exports to maintain adequate stocks in the country. From June 1, only 10 million tonnes of sugar can be exported in the current marketing year, which ends in September.
9. India slapped a ban on wheat exports to maintain food security and cool prices.
10. Over and above Rs 1 lakh crore budgeted for the current fiscal, the government will provide an additional fertilizer subsidy of Rs 1.1 lakh crore to farmers.

WHAT IS INFLATION TARGETING?

• Inflation can be majorly caused due to two reasons. One is the Demand-Pull Inflation, and the other is the cost-push Inflation on the supply side.
• In the case of demand-pull Inflation, all the control measures revolve around reducing the demand, and this can be done by either reducing the money supply or increasing prices by taxation.
• In the case of cost-push Inflation, the control measures revolve around increasing the supply to meet the demand in the market and reducing the prices by providing subsidies and technological expertise.
• In all cases, the inflation control measures can be divided into Monetary Measures, Fiscal Measures, and Price controls.

MONETARY MEASURES:

• Monetary policy refers to the central bank’s approach to managing the money supply and interest rates through the use of monetary policy instruments under its control.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act, 1934, was amended in May 2016 to provide a legal foundation for the implementation of the flexible inflation-targeting framework.
• The primary goal of monetary policy is to keep prices stable (keeping Inflation within the target band of 2 per cent to 6 per cent).

FISCAL MEASURES:

• Fiscal policy is the policy by which a country’s government controls the flow of tax revenues and public expenditures in order to navigate the economy.
• For example, during a slowdown, the government may decide to spend more on infrastructure projects and other initiatives in order to stimulate the economy. To increase revenue, the government may raise taxes on the wealthy.
• To combat/control inflation, the government employs a variety of fiscal policy measures.

PUBLIC EXPENDITURE:

• It is the amount of money spent by the country’s government. For example, the government constructs public infrastructure such as roads, railways, and housing.
• It is an important tool in the fight against Inflation.
• When Inflation is high, the government reduces government spending. A decrease in public spending has an impact on private investment, resulting in a decrease in aggregate demand.
• For example, during periods of high Inflation, the government reduces its spending on rural infrastructure expansion. It will result in a decrease in demand in rural areas.
• Similarly, in the event of deflation, the government increases public spending in order to boost private investment and aggregate demand.

TAXATION:

• Taxation policy can be used to encourage or discourage household consumption and private investment by raising or lowering the personal income tax, corporate tax, or indirect tax (Such as GST)
• In the event of high Inflation, the government may raise personal or corporate taxes in order to reduce household expenditure/private investment. Increased taxation means that people have less money to spend (and private players for investment). This would result in a decrease in aggregate demand and aid in the containment of rising Inflation.
• Similarly, in the event of deflation, the government lowers tax rates in order to stimulate household and private consumption, resulting in an increase in aggregate demand.
• Conclusion:Inflation in a regulated manner is good for the growth of the country. However, if it’s not under control, then it will spiral, cause hyperinflation, and lead the economy into a vicious cycle. Therefore necessary measures are designed both by the central bank and the government to keep it in check.

ADMINISTRATIVE MEASURES

• In addition to monetary and fiscal instruments, the government can use other measures to maintain price stability and control inflationary price rises in the economy. Other measures include direct price controls, restrictions on speculation and hoarding, the use of buffer stocks, a ban on exports, and imports to supplement domestic supply, and a prohibition on commodity futures trading.

PRICE CONTROL THROUGH DIRECT ACTION

• Under the Essential Commodity Act of 1955, the government can declare a commodity to be an essential commodity in order to ensure that it is available to the public at reasonable prices. The Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) aims to keep pharmaceutical prices under control.

EXAMINE SPECULATION AND HOARDING

• The Act to Prevent Black Marketing and Maintain Supplies of Essential Commodities, 1980 – This act authorizes the central government or a state government to detain individuals who engage in activities such as hoarding, creating artificial scarcity of essential commodities in the market, and price rigging.

POLICY ON BUFFER STOCKS

• The Government of India has maintained buffer stocks of food grains to cover any unanticipated situation. Food Corporation of India is in charge of purchasing, storing, moving, transporting, distributing, and selling food grains and other food items.

BAN ON EXPORTS

• The Government of India imposes a Minimum Export Price (MIP) to discourage commodity exports and ensure their availability in domestic markets.

BAN ON COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING

• Commodities (e.g., the government prohibited future trading in chana, etc.).

To reduce speculation-driven price increases, governments frequently prohibit future trading in

THE WAY FORWARD

• Focus on supply of agricultural goods: The implication for the policymaker that Inflation is driven by agricultural goods prices, as is the case in India presently, is that the focus should be on increasing the supply of these goods.
• Growing per capita income in India has shifted the average consumption basket towards foods rich in minerals, such as fruits and vegetables, and protein, such as milk and meat.
• The government should reduce unnecessary expenditure on non-development activities in order to curb Inflation. This will also put a check on private expenditure, which is dependent upon government demand for goods and services. But it is not easy to cut government expenditure. Though this measure is always welcome, it becomes difficult to distinguish between essential and non-essential expenditure. Therefore, this measure should be supplemented by taxation.
• An important measure is to adopt the anti-inflationary budgetary policy. For this purpose, the government should give up deficit financing and instead have surplus budgets. It means collecting more in revenues and spending less.
• Another important measure is to adopt a rational wage and income policy. Under hyperinflation, there is a wage-price spiral. To control this, the government should freeze wages, incomes, profits, dividends, bonus, etc.

THE CONCLUSION: Inflation in a regulated manner is good for the growth of the country. However, if it’s not under control, then it will spiral, cause hyperinflation, and lead the economy into a vicious cycle. Therefore, necessary measures are designed both by the central bank and the government to keep it in check.

VALUE ADDITION

Monetary policy:

• Monetary policy refers to the central bank’s approach to managing the money supply and interest rates through the use of monetary policy instruments under its control.
• In India, the monetary policy of the Reserve Bank of India is aimed at managing the quantity of money in order to meet the requirements of different sectors of the economy and to increase the pace of economic growth.
• The RBI implements the monetary policy through open market operations, bank rate policy, reserve system, credit control policy, moral persuasion and many other instruments.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act, 1934, was amended in May 2016 to provide a legal foundation for the implementation of the flexible inflation-targeting framework.
• The primary goal of monetary policy is to keep prices stable (keeping Inflation within the target band of 2 per cent to 6 per cent).

Monetary policy committee:

• The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the committee set up by the Union government to set the policy interest rates as a part of its monetary policy. It is headed by the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The Monetary Policy Committee decisions will impact the money supply and liquidity in the economy.
• The monetary policy Committee is concerned with setting policy rates and other monetary policy decisions in order to achieve:

1. Price stability
2. Accelerating the growth of the economy
3. Exchange rate stabilization
4. Balancing savings and investment
5. Generating employment
6. Financial stability

• In order to maintain price stability, Inflation must be kept under control.
• Every five years, the Indian government sets an inflation target. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plays an important role in the consultation process for inflation targeting. The current inflation-targeting framework in India is flexible, with a target of 4% with a band of +/-2%.

QUESTIONS FOR MAIN EXAMINATION

1. Explain the role played by the Central bank and Government of India in curbing the Inflation? Also, suggest some measures to deal with Inflation in the present scenario.
2. ”Inflation in a regulated manner is good for the growth of the country. If it’s not under control, then it will spiral, cause hyperinflation, and lead the economy to a vicious cycle.’’ Elucidate.

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