India called the purchase of Russian oil at a discount a wise decision

NEW DELHI, Sep 8 – PRIME. Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said it was wise to buy oil from Russia at a discount.

“Today, since February-March of this year, we have been in a situation where world prices have gone beyond the limits accessible to anyone … And at this stage a very strong political decision has been made. I respect the Prime Minister (of India Narendra Modi) for the courage … to buy (oil) from Russia, because they are ready to sell it at a discount…. I pay tribute to the statesmanship of the Prime Minister, who made sure that on a global scale we have maintained relations with all countries, but still managed to get oil until today… So the sanctions sanctions, but countries are finding their own way to get Russian fuel, Russian gas,” she said, speaking at a summit of ideas in India organized by the US-India Business Council.

Sitharaman noted that over the past few months, India has shown that it was able to bring inflation to an acceptable level.

The finance minister also said that job creation and a fair distribution of income are top priorities for the government to ensure the country is on the path to growth.

“Some of the priorities, of course, are in red letters, some may not be. The red letters, of course, will be jobs, an equitable distribution of wealth and confidence that India is on the path to growth,” Sitharaman added.

The embargo imposed by the European Union and the United States on Russian oil purchases led to a sharp increase in prices, which allowed the Russian Federation to redirect large volumes of raw materials to other markets, primarily India and China, and even increase revenues, albeit by selling smaller volumes of oil at a discount. The EU and the US suffer losses, including the spillover effect of inflation.