Inflation seen at 9.82 per cent on June 7

Mumbai, June 18: India's annual inflation rate is expected to have
jumped to 13-year highs near 10 percent in early June, powered by a
fuel price rise, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday.

The wholesale price index is forecast to have risen to 9.82 percent in
the 12 months to June 7, which would be the highest since June 3,
1995, when annual inflation was at 9.89 percent.

The forecasts from 12 analysts ranged widely from 9.63 percent to
10.62 percent, and compared with an annual rise of 8.75 percent in the
previous week.

Four economists in the poll estimated the data, due around noon (0630
GMT) on Friday, to come in at above 10 percent, its first double-digit
reading since May 27, 1995.

It would be the 17th consecutive week that inflation rate has been
above 5.5 percent, the central bank's target by the end of the fiscal
year in March 2009.

India had raised state-set fuel prices by about 10 percent on June 4,
and the central bank last week raised its key lending rate for the
first time in more than a year to contain inflation expectations.

India's chief statistician, Pronab Sen, said on Tuesday that headline
inflation would hit double digits sometime in the coming weeks and was
likely to hover around 8 to 9 percent before declining in the last
quarter of 2008.

The wholesale price index is more closely watched than the consumer
price index (CPI) because it includes more products and is also
published weekly. The CPI is released monthly.

Sources : Financial Express