Union Budget 2022-23: Will govt give booster shot to tackle rising inflation?

Poorer and middle income households have been grappling with rising inflation across various categories, including rising medical costs, the price of essential consumer goods and more. Will the government provide relief in the upcoming Union Budget 2022-23?

Rising inflation has taken a massive toll on Indian households as economic disruptions triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic continue to impact jobs and incomes. In view of deteriorating income and the rising cost of essential goods, millions of households are expecting the government to provide some form of relief in the upcoming Union Budget 2022-23.

Poorer and middle income households have been grappling with rising inflation across various categories, including rising medical costs, the price of essential consumer goods and more.

Tea, edible oil, pulses, meat, cooking gas and a host of other essential items have become costlier to the tune of 20 per cent to 40 per cent since the Covid-19 pandemic began in early 2020. The price rise has hurt consumers, especially as most families have been burdened with higher medical costs due to the pandemic.

Budget 2022-23: Full coverage

Overall, retail prices have gone up by nearly 10 per cent in the last 2 years compared to 8 per cent in the previous five-and-half-years, according to a Reuters news report based on data from the Ministry of Statistics.

Unemployment and loss of income have hurt millions of households in the country, leaving them unguarded against the wave of rising inflation.

In December, retail inflation jumped to a five-month high of 5.59 per cent -- inching closer to overshooting the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) upper limit of 6 per cent -- and wholesale inflation remained in double digits. This is likely to increase further in coming months due to a host of factors, according to economists.