Inflation would come down to 6 pc by year-end: PM

Seeking to allay concerns over price rise, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday expressed confidence that inflation would come down to 6% by year-end.

Seeking to allay concerns over price rise, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday expressed confidence that inflation would come down to 6% by year-end.

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"I am not an astrologer but analysts have said that by the end of this year, inflation will come down to 6%," Singh told reporters in New Delhi during Iftar hosted by him.

He was responding to a question whether inflation would come down and whether it was possible in view of the upcoming festival season.

Headline inflation in July moderated to an eight-month low of 9.22%, from 9.44% in June, but items of mass consumption, including cereals and vegetables, and manufactured products continue to remain dearer.

Food inflation also slipped to 9.03% for the week ended August 6, from 9.90% in the previous week.

"Food inflation at the level of 9% is not acceptable. I do hope the measures taken to remove supply constraints in some of the agricultural commodities and good monsoon will help to have further moderating influence on the prices of food and other essential commodities," finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had said.

The government and the Reserve Bank have taken many measures to control the inflation. RBI has increased its key policy rate 11 times since March 2010 to curb spending and tame the rate of price rise.

The RBI had projected inflation to average 9% for the first six months of 2011-12 before moderating to around 7% by March-end.

Addressing the nation on the Independence Day, Singh had said that persisting high inflation is major challenges before the Indian economy.

"We are continuously monitoring the situation (on inflation) to find out what new steps can be taken to arrest rising prices. Finding a solution to this problem will be our top-most priority in the coming months," Singh had said.