Consumers get no relief despite strong rupee, low costs

Falling world commodity prices, low transportation costs and stability in the exchange rate have failed to bring any respite for the consumers in the last five months as retail prices either crawled up or held unchanged due to an ineffective price checking mechanism. A drop of over 16 per cent in food imports during 5MFY24 to $3.35 billion from $4bn in the same period last year might have helped in curtailing the current account deficit (CAD). However, wheat, palm oil and pulses continued to hold a bulk share in the overall food imports. Besides paying high prices for edible items, the extra burden of high utility bills has made the lives of many low- and middle-income families more miserable, causing them either to adjust the usage of electrical appliances or to curtail food purchases. One cannot rule out the role of manufacturers for not passing on the full impact of lower world commodity prices, transportation expenses and stability in the exchange rate, while retailers also remained reluctant to bring down the prices.