Inflation can’t be controlled without sacrificing growth : Subbarao

New Delhi. Clearly indicating that there is no rate cut in near future, Reserve Bank Governor D Subbarao on Thursday said inflation cannot be controlled without sacrificing some growth. He was talking to reporters after a meeting of FSDC sub committee.
Delivering the Obayya memorial lecture here, he said that a short-term sacrifice of growth was a small price to pay for bringing down inflation so that in the medium term, the growth is secured.
“You cannot control inflation without sacrificing some growth,” he told. The remark came on a day when May inflation rose to 7.55% from 7.23% in the previous month.
With growth in factory output slowing down sharply to 0.1 per cent in April, industry has been demanding a cut in key policy rate (repo rate) to bring down cost of borrowings. Experts said that the central bank would have a tough job in balancing growth and inflation in its monetary policy review on June 18.
RBI had cut key lending rate by 50 basis points to 8 per cent after consecutively raising it 13 times since March 2010 in its bid to tame inflation.
Subbarao did not believe that India is heading for 1991-like crisis. “It is highly improbable that we will have 1991-type crisis because today we have a different set of economy,” he said.
He said while fiscal deficit was as high as it was in 1991 while the current account deficit was going to be higher than that of 1991, the twin deficits would not lead to that situation. He pointed out that the rupee was overvalued in 1991.