The export curbs started with onion. they are going to spread soon – Gudstory

A senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the government is planning to bring all agricultural commodities under its export review and minimum export price (MEP) policy. At present, an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) headed by the Department of Commerce (DOC) is responsible for seasonal review of onion exports. In a recent meeting, the IMC recommended that the DoC “may also examine export or MEP policy issues of other agricultural commodities and issue necessary orders in this regard”, the official said.

“The proposal regarding extension of terms of reference of IMC in DoC for export or MEP issues on onion and other agricultural commodities was placed before the meetings of the CoS (Committee of Secretaries) and COM (Committee of Ministers) for their consideration Have further approval,” the official said.

Queries sent to DoC and the Department of Food and Public Distribution remained unanswered till press time.

“Curbing exports is not the best idea. “This comes in the way of decisions taken by farmers because they cannot take a medium-term view,” said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda. There must be time. We have observed that when there is a supply shortage, curbing exports never helps in bringing down prices as the market works on the basis of demand-supply balance.” and does not significantly affect price dynamics. “In fact, importing is a better way to go when there is a shortage.”

In an interview in November, Union Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh confirmed a Mint report, saying the Center is ready with plans to ensure food security in the coming year in the wake of irregular monsoons that have disrupted the crop calendar. Did it and boom. Food prices this year. As part of the plan, the government is working on creating a model to predict food prices that will take into account external factors such as weather and trade-related measures.

Food inflation rose to 8.7% in November from 6.61% in October and 6.62% in September. The main reason for this was the increase in inflation of vegetables and pulses to 17.7% and 20.23% respectively in November, which was 2.7% and 18.79% in October. Food and beverages inflation also rose to 8.02% in November from 6.24% in October.

In July, retail inflation rose to a 15-month high of 7.4% as food prices rose due to seasonal fluctuations.

This prompted the government to strengthen the buffer for essential food items, ease the import of essential food items through periodic open market releases and trade policy measures.

The government also took steps to curb inflation by means other than strict trade policies and to prevent hoarding by revising stock limits and channeling supplies through designated retail outlets.

The Center wants to control food prices before the general elections in April-May. In the past year, it has restricted exports of wheat, rice, onions and sugar, cut import duties on edible oils and eased imports of pulses.

In November, it was also announced that the free food grain scheme, which provides 5 kg of grains every month to more than 810 million people, would be extended until 2029.