New Delhi: India's inflation will remain above 4 per cent for the current fiscal even as efforts will continue to bring down prices, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said Thursday.
"It is expected to be above 4 percent. Our efforts will be to further contain inflation," Chidambaram told reporters outside parliament, after tabling the Economic Survey for 2007-08.
Inflation in the first week of February 2008 shot up to a six-month high with the wholesale prices climbing to 4.35 percent for the week ended Feb 9, as against 4.07 percent and 4.11 percent in the preceding two weeks.
Also in the first week of February, prices of food articles such as fruits and vegetables, condiments, spices, fish, arhar, bajra and barley rose, the data showed.
The wholesale price index data is released weekly and considered the benchmark inflation indicator. The inflation rate stood at 6.52 percent in the corresponding week last year.
The ministry of commerce and industry last week revised the inflation rate for the week ended Dec 15 to 3.84 percent from 3.45. The government revises the rate after receiving additional price data.
Even though the fuel price hike this month would add 19 basis points, inflation rate would remain lower at 4.4 per cent during the current fiscal, compared to 5.4 per cent in the previous year, mainly due to policy measures taken in the last 18 months, the pre-Budget Economic Survey said here.
The Survey, tabled in Parliament, said, however, the government would have to maintain vigil on this front as price management is a complex task, more so because of the pressures from rising capital inflows and global commodity price movement, particularly oil that breached the 100 dollar a barrel mark.
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