Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said deceleration in industrial growth to 2.7 per cent in November and high inflation could have an adverse impact on the economy and promised to take corrective steps to push up factory output.
“If IIP goes down and inflation goes up, it will have an adverse impact, but I am not coming to any premature conclusion,” Mr. Mukherjee told reporters here.
“We shall have to look into and take corrective measures so that IIP numbers revive in the remaining four months,” he said.
Even though part of the deceleration in growth may be because of high base effect of 11.3 per cent in November last year, the Finance Minister refused to take it as a consolation.
“Last time, if you have noticed that in November last year it (IIP) was very high, so base effect is also there, but that is no consolation,” he said.
Inflation is expected to be higher in December than 7.48 per cent in November, since food inflation has surged up to 18.32 per cent during the week ended December 25.
In the previous two weeks also, food inflation was in double digits while standing at 9.46 per cent for the week ended December 4.
