Asserting that the government was taking all steps to contain inflation, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said he was confident of bringing the situation under control.

The sharp rise in international prices of oil and fears of an impending drought have fuelled inflationary trends, he said addressing the All India Congress Committee session in New Delhi.

Prices soar as inflation inches towards 8%

The measures taken by the government by slashing customs and excise duties on oil and other products would help contain inflation, which has touched 7.96 per cent, Singh said.

"We are now confident of bringing the situation under control... Let there be no doubt on that score," he said.

Apprehending a campaign by the opposition parties against "our management of inflation," the prime minister said, "we must be fully prepared to meet the onslaught."

Allaying apprehensions that the inflationary trends would continue, the prime minister said there were adequate foreign exchange reserves, comfortable food stocks, monsoon has revived and supply of vegetables and other commodities has improved.

"Despite this if there is still some pressure on the price front, it is due to external factors like the rising international prices of oil or misguided policies of the previous Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government," he said adding that controlling prices was his government's priority.

Attacking the previous government, Singh said that Congress had left a "healthy and robust economy" and achieved a record seven per cent rate of growth of GDP for three years in a row but "regrettably" in subsequent years the economic growth had slowed down.