Nirmala Sitharaman – Union Finance Minister:

A recent UNDP report “Addressing the Cost-of-Living Crisis in Developing Countries” shows that inflation will have only a negligible impact on poverty in India, adding that targeted transfers (such as what India has been doing) help poorer households cope with price spikes.

The report shows inflation in India will not push anybody below the lower poverty line of $1.9/day, while only 0.02% & 0.04% of the population will go below higher poverty lines of $3.3/day & $5.5/day, respectively.

The report says that food and energy inflation could push up to 71 million people into poverty globally. It also says that “We find that targeted & time-bound cash transfers are the most effective policy tool to address the impacts.”

From the beginning of the pandemic, Modi Govt has implemented such targetted & time-bound transfers of food and cash to those at the bottom of the pyramid through the PMGKAY and PMGKY. These results highlight the effectiveness of this strategy.

https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2022-07/Addressing-the-cost-of-living-crisis-in-vulnerable-countries.pdf