Stating that inflation has affected even rich countries like the United States, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said BJP workers should not have any "guilty conscious" about it.
He was speaking before a gathering of party workers here.
"There is debate going on about the rising inflation....During COVID-19 pandemic, the entire economy was at a standstill. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with his prudence, did not let the economy deteriorate...and we should appreciate this," the senior BJP leader said.
Global supply chains were disrupted due to the Russia-Ukraine "crisis", and import and export were affected, Singh said.
"In this situation, it is obvious that it will have impact on any country. You will be surprised to know that in US, which is the richest country, inflation is highest in the last 40 years. At least India is better off. We should not have a guilty conscious," he added.
Notably, retail inflation in India rose to an eight-year high of 7.8 per cent in April while wholesale inflation hit a nine-year high of 15.1 per cent.
Globally, inflation has been a worry for policy-makers with the US and European price indexes at a 40-year high of over eight percent.
