Admitting that handling inflation is a shortcoming of the UPA government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asserted that there was need to take “solid steps” to ease the price rise situation, especially this year.

Addressing the AICC session here, he said inflation has been “one shortcoming in our record”. During the UPA regime, the average rate of inflation has remained higher than we desired. He said a major reason for this has been hikes in petroleum product prices in the international market in the last eight years and the benefit extended to farmers by increasing the minimum support price for crops.

“We need to take sold steps to eliminate inflation, especially in 2013-14,” he said.

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