Lower inflation result of reforms, global oil prices: FinMin

A host of factors including the reform measures taken by the government and decline in global oil and commodity prices have led to lower inflation, the Finance Ministry said on Wednesday.

The vigilant monetary policy stance by the RBI and adoption of a Monetary Policy Framework agreement between the government and the central bank have also resulted in moderation in inflation, the Ministry said in a statement. WPI-based inflation has come down from 6.0 per cent in 2013-14 to 2.0 per cent in 2014-15.

The wholesale inflation has been in the negative zone since November 2014 and stood at -3.8 per cent in October 2015. 

The CPI-based inflation declined to 5.9 per cent in 2014-15 from 9.5 per cent in 2013-14 and has remained below 5.5 per cent since January 2015, the ministry said.

During April-October 2015-16, average CPI inflation was 4.7 per cent. The retail inflation has come down to 5.2 per cent in October 2015 as against 6.9 per cent in February.

The statement said that the limits for FPI investment in the central government securities will be increased in phases to 5 per cent of the outstanding stock by March 2018.

The Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) set up for the appraisal of PPP projects by central line ministries and departments has so far in 2015 approved 13 central projects proposal of Rs 21,817.03 crore.

During the current calendar year, so far Empowered Institution has granted in-principle approval for 5 projects with a total project cost of 901.00 crore, the statement said. As part of Financial Stability Board (FSB's) commitment, the statement said India has volunteered to undergo FSB peer review, for the first time, in 2015.