Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Time to rescind the ban

BS writes:
"The suggestion mooted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), to extend the ban on milk powder exports till March, is bizarre. The ban was ill-advised in the first place because milk production has steadily and consistently been growing at more than double the rate of population growth, and there was no fear of any shortage of milk. The milk price index, too, has historically remained lower than that of all food items taken together, and also of individual major food items grouped as cereals and pulses, fruits and vegetables, and eggs, meat and fish. If the government’s decision to ban exports, taken last February, which is the beginning of the seasonal lean phase in milk output, was meant to ward off any abnormal rise in prices, that threat (if it ever existed) is now over."

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