Fed-Fueled Inflation May Cost India’s Congress, Aiyar Says
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Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s ruling party would lose a national election if it were held today because of voter anger over the highest inflation in Asia, a former member of his cabinet said.
Singh’s government should’ve done more to insulate Asia’s third-biggest economy from unprecedented stimulus engineered by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, according to Mani Shankar Aiyar, a former petroleum minister who served in the cabinet from 2004 to 2009. He said U.S. monetary easing helped fuel India’s price rises, which exceeded 11 percent in November.