Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Alarm bells: On the need to tame inflation

Alarm bells: On the need to tame inflation

Inflation (मुद्रास्फीति, महँगाई) must be tamed (curb, control, tone down, moderate, mitigate) before it dampens (decrease, diminish/lessen, reduce) consumption and growth

Just four days after the RBI announced that it would be prioritising inflation over growth, official data show retail inflation disquietingly (बेचैनी से, भयानक रूप से, परेशान करने वाला) accelerated (बढ़ाना) to a 17-month high of 6.95% in March. The pace (गति, दर) of acceleration (त्वरण, बढ़ना, बढ़ोतरी) in price gains (मूल्य लाभ) appears to have caught most economists too off guard. The RBI’s latest Survey of Professional Forecasters, released last week, shows the median (mean, average) Q4 inflation expectation (अपेक्षा, आशा, प्रतीक्षा) of the 33 panellists polled made an assumption for March CPI inflation that was 73 basis points (a unit of measure used in finance to describe the percentage change in the value or rate of a financial instrument. One basis point is equivalent to 0.01% (1/100th of a percent). Used for measuring change in interest rate/yield) lower at 6.22%. The upsurge (sudden increase, rise, growth, inflation) was largely driven (prompt, precipitate, spur) by food prices, which at the food and beverages (a drink, such as tea, coffee, liquor, beer, milk, juice, or soft drinks, usually excluding water) group level accounts for (के लिये उत्तरदयी होना, बनाना, प्रस्तुत करना) 46% of the weight (भार, वजन, महत्व) of the Consumer Price Index (उपभोक्ता मूल्य सूचकांक). While inflation in food and beverages accelerated by 154 basis points from the previous month’s pace to an annualised (वार्षिक, सालाना) rate of 7.47%, the month-on-month (used to compare data for one month with that in previous months) inflation too was a significant 1.3%. Prices of oils and fats rose 18.8% year-on-year (year over year (for comparison)) and by as much as 5.3% sequentially (क्रमिक रूप से, लगातार). Even granting (अनुदान, स्वीकार करना) that the war in Ukraine has severely disrupted the import (आयात, महत्व, परिणाम) of sunflower oil and forced edible oil (cooking oil; fat of plant, animal or microbial origin, which is liquid at room temperature and is suitable for food use) importers to seek alternative supplies at a premium (beyond price, above the nominal price), this is one food item that has been witnessing (confirm, indicate, prove, demonstrate, show) protracted (prolonged, extended, sustained, long-drawn-out, lengthened, never-ending, endless, lingering) price pressures. It reflects poorly on the Government’s efforts to proactively (farsightedly, shrewdly, energetically) address (tackle, deal with, attend to, try to sort out) the supply related issues. Meat and fish prices too saw a sharp spike (a sharp increase), at 9.63% annualised and a 5% sequential acceleration. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das pointedly (directly, unambiguously, unquestionably) flagged (indicate, identify, point out) the war’s impact on feed costs and warned that global supply shortages could continue to have a “spillover (consequence, outcome, repercussion (an unexpected one)) impact on poultry (birds (such as chickens and ducks) that are raised on farms for their eggs or meat), milk and dairy (relating to the products made from milk)” prices.

Consumers in the hinterland (remote areas of a country away from the coastal areas/the banks of major rivers), where a vast majority of the poor live, have been harder hit (affect badly, devastate, damage), with rural inflation running (reach, range, continue) a sizeable (substantial, considerable, significant) 71 basis points faster at 7.66%. Food price inflation (the rise in the prices of most goods and services of food & related things) for rural buyers measured by the Consumer Food Price Index (a measure of change in retail prices of food products consumed by a defined population group in a given area with reference to a base year), exceeded the 8% level, at 8.04%, hinting at the increasing precarity (the state of being uncertain/insecure/unsafe) and nutritional vulnerability (weakness, defencelessness, unprotectedness, susceptibility) in the countryside. Most disconcertingly (unsettlingly, disturbingly, worryingly), the March inflation print (register, mark) barely factors in the pass-through (passing on a cost to a customer) impact of the ongoing increases in the pump prices (the retail selling price of petrol/diesel (to the public)) of petrol and diesel, as state-run ((state) government-owned) refiners (a factory for refining something, as metal, sugar, or petroleum) began raising prices only from March 22. With road freight (transportation, transport, carrying, delivery; goods, cargo, load, consignment) rates for transporting everything from farm produce (all agricultural products) to industrial goods set to (start doing something vigorously) rise to reflect (indicate, show, display, demonstrate) the increase in fuel costs, looking ahead the 8% inflation seen in the transport and communication subgroup may end up (finish up, turn up, come/appear, find oneself (to a particular course of action in the end)) seeming rather tame (unexciting, uninteresting, uninspired, uninspiring, dull) in comparison (when compared; comparatively, by comparison, proportionately). Two other RBI surveys, on Households (family, house)’ Inflation Expectations and Consumer Confidence (the outlook/viewpoint that consumers have towards the economy), also raise cautionary (frightening, intimidating, alarming, warning) flags (indication). While the former shows both three-month and one-year ahead expectations rose from the last round to 10.7% and 10.8%, respectively, the latter points to consumer confidence remaining negative, an improvement in sentiment (point of view, way of thinking, feeling, attitude, thought, opinion, belief) notwithstanding (nevertheless, nonetheless, even so, in spite of that). Specifically, the one-year ahead expectations on inflation show about 84% consumers see price gains intensifying (increase, raise, aggravate, exacerbate) and the majority expect to spend more on essentials than non-essentials. It is time policymakers act to tame inflation before it dampens consumption and growth any further.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.inflation (noun)

Hindi Meaning - मुद्रास्फीति, महँगाई
English Meaning - simply meaning “cost of living”; increase of price level of goods & services and vice versa decrease of currency value.

2.disquietingly (adverb)

Hindi Meaning - बेचैनी से, भयानक रूप से, परेशान करने वाला
English Meaning - distressingly, upsettingly, disturbingly, awfully.

3.accelerate (verb)

Hindi Meaning - बढ़ाना
English Meaning - increase, rise, escalate.

4.pace (noun)

Hindi Meaning - गति, दर
English Meaning - speed, rate.

5.acceleration (noun)

Hindi Meaning - त्वरण, बढ़ना, बढ़ोतरी
English Meaning - increase, rise, surge, escalation.

6.price gain (noun)

Hindi Meaning - मूल्य लाभ
English Meaning - a general increase in the price of something.

7.expectation (noun)

Hindi Meaning - अपेक्षा, आशा, प्रतीक्षा
English Meaning - reckoning, assumption, calculation, prediction, forecast, projection.

8.account for (phrasal verb)

Hindi Meaning - के लिये उत्तरदयी होना, बनाना, प्रस्तुत करना
English Meaning - constitute, make up, comprise, form, compose, represent.

9.weight (noun)

Hindi Meaning - भार, वजन, महत्व
English Meaning - value, importance, significance.

10.Consumer Price Index (CPI) (noun)

Hindi Meaning - उपभोक्ता मूल्य सूचकांक
English Meaning - The CPI looks at the basket of consumer goods and services and it measures the change in price of this basket over a period of time. To put it simply, the CPI monitors retail prices at a certain level for a particular commodity.

11.Wholesale Price Index (WPI) (noun)

Hindi Meaning - थोक मूल्य सूचकांक
English Meaning - The WPI looks at a basket of wholesale goods (goods purchased in large quantities by businesses directly from manufacturers with the intent of reselling them to retailers). the WPI tracks prices at the factory gate before the retail level.

12.annualised (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - वार्षिक, सालाना
English Meaning - (of an inflation) calculated again as an annual rate.

13.sequentially (adverb)

Hindi Meaning - क्रमिक रूप से, लगातार
English Meaning - in succession, successively, continuously.

14.grant (verb)

Hindi Meaning - अनुदान, स्वीकार करना
English Meaning - admit, accept, agree, concede.

15.import (noun)

Hindi Meaning - आयात, महत्व, परिणाम
English Meaning - importance, significance, consequence, substance, weight, gravity, seriousness.

16.alarm bell (noun)

English Meaning - warning sound, alarm signal, danger signal, alert.

17.tame (verb)

English Meaning - curb, control, tone down, moderate, mitigate.

18.dampen (verb)

English Meaning - decrease, diminish/lessen, reduce.

19.Retail or Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation (noun)

English Meaning - The change in the price index of the basket of consumer goods and services over a period of time is referred to as CPI-based inflation or retail inflation.

20.Wholesale or Wholesale price Index (WPI) inflation (noun)

English Meaning - The change in the price index of the basket of wholesale goods (and no services) over a period of time is referred to as WPI-based inflation or wholesale inflation.

21.catch someone off guard/throw someone off balance (phrase)

English Meaning - surprise someone by doing something they do not expect; baffle, mystify, bemuse, perplex, puzzle, confuse,

22.RBI Professional Forecasters Survey (SPF) (noun)

English Meaning - The Reserve Bank has been conducting the Survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF) (on Macroeconomic Indicators) since September 2007. The Survey of Professional Forecasters is conducted bi-monthly as against quarterly from 28th Round.

23.median (adjective)

English Meaning - mean, average.

24.basis point (BPS) (noun)

English Meaning - a unit of measure used in finance to describe the percentage change in the value or rate of a financial instrument. One basis point is equivalent to 0.01% (1/100th of a percent). Used for measuring change in interest rate/yield.

25.upsurge (noun)

English Meaning - sudden increase, rise, growth, inflation.

26.drive (verb)

English Meaning - prompt, precipitate, spur.

27.beverage (noun)

English Meaning - a drink, such as tea, coffee, liquor, beer, milk, juice, or soft drinks, usually excluding water.

28.month-on-month (adjective)

English Meaning - used to compare data for one month with that in previous months.

29.year-on-year (adjective)

English Meaning - year over year (for comparison).

30.edible oil (noun)

English Meaning - cooking oil; fat of plant, animal or microbial origin, which is liquid at room temperature and is suitable for food use.

31.seek (verb)

English Meaning - request, ask for, request, demand, appeal.

32.at a premium (phrase)

English Meaning - beyond price, above the nominal price.

33.witness (verb)

English Meaning - confirm, indicate, prove, demonstrate, show.

34.protracted (adjective)

English Meaning - prolonged, extended, sustained, long-drawn-out, lengthened, never-ending, endless, lingering.

35.Inflationary/price pressures (noun)

English Meaning - the demand and supply-side pressures that can cause a rise in the general price level; cost-push inflation, hot-economy, deficit finance.

36.reflect badly on (phrase)

English Meaning - discredit, disgrace, shame, put in a bad light, damage, damage the reputation of, tarnish the reputation of, give a bad name to.

37.proactively (adverb)

English Meaning - farsightedly, shrewdly, energetically.

38.address (verb)

English Meaning - tackle, deal with, attend to, try to sort out.

39.spike (noun)

English Meaning - a sharp increase.

40.pointedly (adverb)

English Meaning - directly, unambiguously, unquestionably.

41.flag (verb)

English Meaning - indicate, identify, point out.

42.spillover (noun as modifier)

English Meaning - consequence, outcome, repercussion (an unexpected one).

43.poultry (noun as modifier)

English Meaning - birds (such as chickens and ducks) that are raised on farms for their eggs or meat.

44.dairy (adjective)

English Meaning - relating to the products made from milk.

45.hinterland (noun)

English Meaning - remote areas of a country away from the coastal areas/the banks of major rivers.

46.hit (verb)

English Meaning - affect badly, devastate, damage.

47.run (verb)

English Meaning - reach, range, continue.

48.sizeable (adjective)

English Meaning - substantial, considerable, significant.

49.food price inflation (noun)

English Meaning - the rise in the prices of most goods and services of food & related things.

50.Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) (noun)

English Meaning - a measure of change in retail prices of food products consumed by a defined population group in a given area with reference to a base year.

51.precarity (noun)

English Meaning - the state of being uncertain/insecure/unsafe.

52.vulnerability (noun)

English Meaning - weakness, defencelessness, unprotectedness, susceptibility.

53.disconcertingly (adverb)

English Meaning - unsettlingly, disturbingly, worryingly.

54.print (verb)

English Meaning - register, mark.

55.pass-through (noun)

English Meaning - passing on a cost to a customer.

56.pump price (noun)

English Meaning - the retail selling price of petrol/diesel (to the public).

57.state-run (adjective)

English Meaning - (state) government-owned.

58.refinery (noun)

English Meaning - a factory for refining something, as metal, sugar, or petroleum.

59.freight (noun as modifier)

English Meaning - transportation, transport, carrying, delivery; goods, cargo, load, consignment.

60.produce (noun)

English Meaning - all agricultural products.

61.set to (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - start doing something vigorously.

62.reflect (verb)

English Meaning - indicate, show, display, demonstrate.

63.look ahead (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - to think about what will happen in the future.

64.end up (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - finish up, turn up, come/appear, find oneself (to a particular course of action in the end).

65.tame (adjective)

English Meaning - unexciting, uninteresting, uninspired, uninspiring, dull.

66.in comparison (phrase)

English Meaning - when compared; comparatively, by comparison, proportionately.

67.household (noun)

English Meaning - family, house.

68.consumer confidence (noun)

English Meaning - the outlook/viewpoint that consumers have towards the economy.

69.cautionary (adjective)

English Meaning - frightening, intimidating, alarming, warning.

70.flag (noun)

English Meaning - indication.

71.sentiment (noun)

English Meaning - point of view, way of thinking, feeling, attitude, thought, opinion, belief.

72.notwithstanding (adverb

English Meaning - nevertheless, nonetheless, even so, in spite of that.

73.intensify (verb)

English Meaning - increase, raise, aggravate, exacerbate.