New Delhi: Indian government is contemplating to ban wheat products exports as part of the measures to contain the piraling food prices that have fuelled inflation and increased, Indian media said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to announce measures including banning the export of wheat products and removing essential commodities from the futures market after a cabinet meeting on Thursday, the Press Trust of India reported without naming its sources.
Food inflation, at a one-year high of 18.3 per cent, is the highest of the major Asian economies, and is a major headache for a government already battling multi-billion dollar corruption cases that have emboldened the opposition.
Rising prices of basic foodstuffs like onions could threaten the Congress party’s chance in elections in states like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu that are key for Singh’s coalition to keep a majority in parliament.
India, which has already suspended wheat exports, banned onion exports last month after prices rose by 83 per cent since June, the Economic Times reported, forcing the government to request imports from neighbouring Pakistan.
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