Mumbai: With rains this year having advanced well into the country, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said a better monsoon would help check food inflation. "It appears that the rain gods may be kinder this year to us than they were last year," he said at the Nabard foundation day celebrations here.

Expressing the hope that the monsoon would be as good as it was last month, Jaitley said the department of agriculture expects better rainfall in most parts of India for higher yields of oilseeds and pulses, whose prices are currently a concern in terms of inflation.