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Adequate food stocks to help contain inflation - Arvind Subramanian

Chief economic adviser at India's Finance Ministry, Arvind Subramanian, speaks at the Global Business Summit in New Delhi, January 17, 2015. REUTERS/Anindito Mukherjee/Files

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's adequate food stocks would help contain inflation, even if summer monsoon rains turn out to be weak, Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian said on Tuesday. The June-September monsoon season is vital for India as half its croplands lack irrigation, but a forecast of less rain than usual this summer due to the emergence of the El Nino has threatened farm output. India's retail inflation in April cooled to a four-month low of 4.87 percent on slower annual increases in food costs, government data showed earlier this month. (Reporting by Manoj Kumar; Editing by Malini Menon)