High inflation due to crude oil price hike: Rosaiah

Hyderabad, Jun 20 (UNI) Even as Congress President and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi allegedly blamed the states for not taking stern action against blackmarketeers and hoarders, Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister K Rosaiah today said it was for the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India to take appropriate fiscal and monetary policies.

Attributing the high inflation to unprecedented rise in the prices of crude oil at the international market, Mr Rosaiah told newspersons here that the state government could not do much on this front.

Justifying the hike in the prices of petroleum products effected by the Centre, he said it was ''inevitable.'' After Ms Gandhi had suggested that the state government share the burden by reducing the taxes on petroleum products, it had fully absorbed the Rs 50 hike in the price of cooking gas to provide relief for the women.

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