India’s annual inflation rate is expected to have accelerated to its highest in more than 13 years in late June, driven by higher prices of fuel and strong demand in the economy, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday.
The wholesale price index is forecast to have risen to 11.75 percent in the 12 months to June 28, from 11.63 percent a week earlier, which would be the highest since annual numbers in the current series became available in April 1995.
The data is due around noon on Friday.
It would be the 20th consecutive week that the inflation rate has been above 5.5 percent, the Reserve Bank of India’s target for the end of the fiscal year in March 2009.
On Tuesday, Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said the government was relying on monetary policy to cool demand and calm prices.
Last month, the central bank raised its main lending rate by 75 basis points and increased banks’ reserve requirement by 50 basis points to contain inflation expectations. Its next scheduled review is on July 29, but it can act before then.
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.
RESPONDENT RATE %
BANK OF BARODA 11.89
LEHMAN BROTHERS 11.89
KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK 11.84
YES BANK 11.80
ICICI SECURITIES 11.75
J P MORGAN CHASE 11.75
IDBI GILTS 11.70
HDFC BANK 11.69
ABN AMRO BANK 11.65
AXIS BANK 11.65
MEDIAN 11.75
AVERAGE 11.76
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