Pranab at Assocham conference in Mumbai

Finance Minister and Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee at the banking and insurance conference organised by industry lobby Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham) in Mumbai on Saturday, June 16, 2012.The conference was Mukherjee’s first public engagement after he was declared the United Progressive Alliance’s candidate for the Presidential election next month.Pranab Mukherjee exuded confidence that the Reserve Bank of India would “adjust” the monetary policy to ease macro-economic concerns of slow growth and high inflation.Mukherjee, however, said the ability of monetary policy to tackle food inflation is limited. “The supply side constraints have to be removed,the government is taking steps, not sitting idle.”Mukherjee said the government had suggested to the state governments to temporarily reduce the tax burden on petrol till crude prices cool down to 90 dollar per barrel in the international market.The finance minister said the government was taking due note of the concerns raised by the industry and global rating agencies.