Cruel to raise taxes when CPI inflation is over 7%: Jairam Ramesh

New Delhi, July 20 (UNI) The Congress on Wednesday denounced Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for defending the hike in GST rates and questioned the timing say- ing it’s “cruel” to hike the rates when CPI is over 7 percent.
Jairam Ramesh, Congress General Secretary said: “It is cruel to raise tax rates when CPI inflation is over 7 percent, WPI inflation is over 15 percent, unemployment is high, the rupee is depreciating, the current account deficit is widening and inflation is expected to rise worldwide.”
He said: “Branded & labeled is very different from pre-packaged & labeled. The former affects only products of big companies priced higher and bought by the middle and upper middle classes. The latter affects small businesses whose products are bought by the lower middle class and the poor. West Bengal Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya minister who attended the meeting said that it was virtual. The finance ministers did not meet face to face and did not consult each other. She also contradicted the finance minister and said that she (and some others) opposed the report of the Fitment Committee that recommended the increases, the veteran leader said.