Steps to curb inflation required, says CM

BANGALORE: Terming the Union Budget as a status-quo Budget, Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said it will neither help economic growth nor revive the already sagging economy. “The people of the country have been suffering due to the high inflationary trend for the last two years. The inflation rate has not come down from two digits. Food inflation had ranged between 18 and 22 pc. The Finance Minister should have initiated measures to control inflation. But he has disappointed us,” Gowda said in a release here on Friday.He also felt that the hike in central excise and service tax by 2 pc (from 10 to 12 pc) would trigger higher inflation as the rates of goods and services would go up, burdening the people.It was expected that the Finance Minister would initiate steps to curb the growing prices of fuels and other petroleum products. No such attempt has been made.  As far as Karnataka is concerned, there are more negative implications. States’ share of taxes and duties, which was Rs 2,63,458 crore in Budget estimates for 2011-12, has been brought down to Rs 2,55,414 crore in revised estimates for 2011-12.