Price of an income crisis

Urgent policy action needed as large sections of people are hit by a prolonged income stagnation

THE RETAIL MARKETS for raw food items are being frequently disrupted by trade-distorting steps, and, worryingly, these seem like the new normal. While speaking in Parliament last week, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman vindicated the latest host of supply-side measures as a means to "balance the interests of farmers and consumers," and insisted that, more often, the government used to "incline towards farmers." To be sure, the steps coincide with another (apparently transient) spurt in retail food inflation that is mainly driven by short-supply of perishables. They also seemingly coalesce with demand management via monetary tools, and fit in with broader macroeconomic objectives of price and financial stability. What needs to be examined is if these measures, in the aggregate, are safeguarding the interests of large sections of people.