- Fighting unacceptably high inflation is the most important issue that needs to be addressed by the government, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday.
"There is no doubt that inflation is the most important issue which is to be addressed adequately," Mukheree told lawmakers as part of a debate on the annual budget for 2011/12 that was presented on Feb. 28.
Asia's third-largest economy is expected to expand 8.6 percent in the current fiscal year that ends in March. But India has been grappling with soaring prices for the past year that have prompted seven rate hikes by the Reserve Bank of India since last March, with another raise expected next week.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress party faces elections in five states next month amid criticism over inflation and its handling of several high-level corruption scandals.
India's headline inflation is expected to ease slightly to 7.79 percent in February, according to a Reuters poll released on Friday.
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