Under attack from allies over spiralling prices, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Friday his government will further bring down the inflation to five per cent in the next couple of months.
"The inflation rate is 5.5 per cent now and we will bring it down to the level of five per cent. I hope we will succeed on this front in the next couple of months," he said on the sidelines of a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Admitting that high prices of essential commodities were a cause of concern, Singh said that efforts would be made to moderate the spiralling prices.
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"There is concern about prices. We will moderate it. It is already coming down," he said.
Inflation fell to 5.66 per cent during the week ended April 28 as higher production of agri products like wheat pulled down prices of some of the essential food products.
As the United Progressive Alliance government completes three years in office, Singh said the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme which has been successful could eradicate poverty when expanded to all districts in the country.
He cited the example of Bihar where all districts have been covered under NREG.
Under the National Urban Renewal Mission the government was taking a holistic approach and the programme would address the problem of slums in the cities, he said.
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