With India's annual inflation rate rising to a near four-year high on a point-to-point basis on the back of rising food prices, the search for policies to combat the price rise poses unusual challenges. The nature and causes of the current spiraling inflation in India has become a subject of intense debate, primarily because of the ostensible role of `imported inflation' in driving the domestic prices north. Issues like poor performance of the Public Distribution System, high and rising levels of oil prices and questionable management of our food economy figure among the reasons. It has also raised doubts among some policy makers about relying on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) as an instrument of measuring the price fluctuations.
The Observer Research Foundation organized a roundtable discussion on Rising Inflation and Government Policy Responses on April 14, 2008. The roundtable, chaired by Dr S. Narayan, former Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister, saw an eminent panel of economists, politicians and academics engage in a lively—and, at times, heated discussion—on an issue that has come centre stage not only in India but globally as well.
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