Prices of vegetables expected to decrease next month, finance ministry officials worried about crude oil

New Delhi: The government is hopeful that with the arrival of new crops in the market, the prices of vegetables will start coming down from next month. Giving this information, a Finance Ministry official said that there is some concern about the rising price of crude oil, although it is still below $ 90 per barrel. The official further said that there is no plan to cut excise duty. The government is increasing investment in infrastructure, and private sector capital investment has yet to pick up.

He further said that the Centre’s capital expenditure would go up to 50 per cent of the budget estimate by the end of September. The figure stood at 28 per cent at the end of the June quarter. The government had increased capital expenditure by 33 per cent to Rs 10 lakh crore in the budget for 2023-24. The official further said that the six per cent rain deficit is not likely to impact kharif sowing as the agriculture sector is quite resilient. He said the government is taking steps to control inflation, including releasing wheat and rice stocks, banning exports of rice, sugar and allowing imports of pulses and oilseeds.

Flexible trade policy has been adopted to keep the prices down, the official told PTI. We must remember that due to the Ukraine war, global food prices are very high and food supplies have been affected. It is a global factor, from which Indians cannot remain aloof. “We have taken steps to protect our people from inflation and we are in a much better position than others,” he said. He said that steps have also been taken to bring down the prices of tomatoes and its impact would be visible in the coming months. The current temporarily high inflation is partly due to vegetables, the official said. I expect the prices of vegetables to come down soon, maybe by next month. Retail inflation had touched a 15-month high of 7.44 per cent in July.