New Delhi: The government at the center seems to be not at all committed to bringing relief in form of cutting excise duty to petrol and diesel prices, which is touching new heights as of now. The reason cited by the government is that the oil prices in the international market are volatile and until now have not at all shown any linear movement.
Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley defended the criticism over inflation during those times that was done by him and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj against the then UPA government while they were opposition leaders. He said that the inflation at that tie was in double-digit and they would have proved to be a failure in performing their duties if they did not criticize the government of the time for its failure to control fuel prices which further contributed to further price rise.
He further elaborated about India being a net buyer of oil and faces adversity in case the rates go up “temporarily”.
“There is no straight-line movement of global crude oil prices. They go up, they come down. In April and May, there was a lot of pressure. In June, they came down. In July, they came down and in August, there is again (an upward) movement. In the last two days, there has been some moderation. For six days before that, there was again,” he told reporters here.
A question was posed to him about the prices of petrol and diesel going up and there are demands being made by opposition parties for a cut in excise duty.
When he was questioned whether the government needs to be prepared to tackle the issue in case the crude prices go up further, he said, “Well policy formation is never a rigid process”.
When asked about the BJP criticizing UPA over the issue when it was in opposition, he said, “We rightly criticized the UPA government then because on inflation there is a huge difference between 11 per cent during UPA and a consistent 4 per cent inflation during NDA”.
“Our record on inflation management has been exemplary. We inherited an 11 per cent inflation and certainly we would have been failing in our duty if Sushmaji and I as leaders of opposition had not criticized it,” he said.
The rally in fuel prices has all time been driven by rupee dipping further and further to an all-time low which made imports costlier and also resulting in rising of crude oil prices.
The rupee has recorded a new low of Rs. 71.75 for a dollar, decreasing by more than Rs. 3 in a month. Apart from that, the crude oil price has gone up to USD 7 a barrel in a fortnight due to the fear that the US sanctions on Iran will limit supplies.
The fossil fuel prices have recorded a new high rate in the country. IN the capital city of Delhi, the rates rose to Rs. 79.31 per liter for petrol and Rs. 71.34 for diesel, facing oppositions and a call for a cut in excise duty to cushion the spiraling rates.
You May Also Read: Patidar Association Warns Gujarat Govt That Its Leader Hardik Patel Would Stop Taking Water In Next 24 Hours