On the face of it, the present inflationary pattern seems to bear some resemblance to that of the 1970s. Not only is inflation unusually high in many countries but the oil price increase that has occurred gradually over the past few years is now comparable in real terms to that of the 1970s.
Too many people have been left out: One-third of the population still lives on about Rs.60 per day, one-half of the population is illiterate with extremely low female literacy rates in the rural areas, a large segment of population does not have access to safe water for drinking and personal hygiene; disease, malnutrition, infant and maternal mortality rates are still quite high, population is growing more rapidly than other countries in the region and income and regional inequalities are rising.