On the eve of the nationwide strike against the increase in fuel prices, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday ruled out a rollback of the increase.
“There is no question of fuel price rollback,” Mr. Mukherjee said on the sidelines of a conference organised by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India.
Refusing to comment on the strike called separately by the NDA and the Left parties, Mr. Mukherjee said it was up to the parties to decide their mode of protest.
Mr. Mukherjee also welcomed the Reserve Bank of India's decision to increase the repo rate (the rate at which banks borrow funds from the RBI) and the reverse repo rate (the rate at which the RBI borrows money from banks). “It is an appropriate and welcome measure, and I do hope it will be subsumed in the new policy statement, which will be made by the RBI on July 27.”
Speaking at the conference on ‘Power of Financial Inclusion and Beyond,' he said: “The financial inclusion of the by-passed sectors is necessary to sustain equitable growth.”
