Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary told the media that the Indian economy is showing signs of revival since the peaking of the second wave of Covid-19 in May 2021 on the back of targeted fiscal relief, strong push for capital expenditure, and rapid vaccination drive.

The estimate of India's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is 0.5% in the third quarter and 1.6% in the fourth quarter of FY 2020-21, resulting in an upward revision in the annual real GDP growth from -8% to -7.3%, he said.

Chaudhary told the media that the momentum of the economic recovery was moderated by the onset of the second wave of the Covid-19, he added.

He said that the economic recovery is reflected in many high-frequency indicators such as E-way bills, rail freight, power consumption, UPI transactions, vehicle registrations.

The government has formulated a multi-pronged strategy to keep the prices of essential commodities under control. It includes the issuance of orders imposing stock limits, valid for wholesalers, retailers, importers, and millers, effective from July 2, with the increase in the number of price monitoring centres under the Price Monitoring Scheme, says Chaudhary.

Citing RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) resolution, he said that the rising trajectory price of international commodities like crude oil, logistics costs creates upside risks to the inflation outlook.

Chaudhary said that the cost pressures are expected to be mitigated by south-west monsoon, comfortable buffer stocks, interventions in the pulses market, the decline in Covid-19 cases, and easing of state-wise Covid-19 restrictions.

Looking into all the factors, MPC has projected consumer price index (CPI) inflation at 5.1% in FY 2021-22 with balanced risks. The MPC will continue to review the inflation outlook in its bi-monthly meetings, he said.

According to him, the government has taken actions to arrest the rising retail inflation in food commodities. It has eased the import restrictions to make domestic availability of pulses and even signed MoUs with Mayanmar, Mozambique, and Malavi for the import of pulses.

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