New Delhi, Apr 2: The government, which is trying to put the lid back on inflation, may on Thursday consider a ban on futures trading in essential commodities including edible oils and potato. While rice, wheat and pulses - urad and tur - are already banned from futures trading, a proposal to ban more agri commodities is likely to be considered at a meeting of the Cabinet tomorrow, informed sources said.

The proposal follows a series of measures unveiled by the government to combat runaway inflation, which touched a 13-month high of 6.68 per cent in the week ended March 15. On Monday, the Cabinet Committee on Prices abolished import duty on crude form of edible oils, reduced customs duty to 7.5 per cent on refined edible oils and banned export of non-basmati rice to tackle rising prices.

Futures and spot market prices of edible oils and oilseeds have already begun to fall after the duty cuts. Also on Monday, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs held a consultation meeting with the three national commodity exchanges to elicit their views on whether ban on agri commodity trading would help check prices.

The three exchanges -- MCX, NCDEX and NMCE -- contended that the ban on futures trading of wheat, rice and few pulses last year has not helped ease pressure on prices of these commodities. Channa, potato, chilli, soyabean, refined soya oil, mentha oil, sugar, gur and mustard seeds are among the major commodities traded in NCDEX, the leading agri commodity exchange.