Good news, bad news
The bad news on GDP, which reflects the country’s economic health, falling to a nine-quarter low in July-September overshadowed the good news that food inflation has finally dropped to a 39-month low. While GDP fell to 6.9 per cent, food inflation fell 6.6 per cent, compared to eight per cent the previous week. One of the reasons trotted out for high food prices was the changing pattern of consumption — that more people were dipping into the food platter with purchasing power rising. Supply, however, has not kept up with demand. So have the inflation numbers now reduced because supply is keeping up with demand, or is it because people are eating less? Since it’s all a game of one-upmanship in the current political scenario, the Opposition is not willing to give the finance minister credit. Since they cannot fault him over food inflation coming down, both the BJP and the Left now want to know why his government has not tackled the question of rising prices on a long-term basis. The FM, treading on the side of caution, has said “had the government not done anything, prices would not have come down”. This two percentage point drop is a small respite as the prices of pulses, the aam aadmi’s key source of protein, are still in double digits. Imagine `4 for a simple egg! And to let a woman have the last word: Sushma Swaraj has rightly said that people want food, not numbers. Shades in reverse of Marie Antoinette?
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