Inflation 6% by March : Pranab Mukherjee

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said inflation will decline to 6% by March next year.

?I am delighted with the latest headline inflation figures made available earlier today. These numbers take us another step towards our forecast of 6% inflation by March 2011,? said Mukherjee.

?I am very happy that there has been a sharp decline in inflation,? the FM said.

With wholesale price index (WPI) inflation declining by more than 1 percentage point, it now stands at 7.48%, according to the government data.

Inflation in food including primary products and manufactured products, is now down to 6.11%. Last month this was at 9.97%.

The only segment where inflation has gone up is non-food primary articles, because of increases in the prices of coir fibre, copra, safflower and a few other items, said the Minister.

?Fortunately, these goods form a very small part of our total product basket and so their overall effect is small,? he said.

?These inflation figures show that we have done well in terms of our monetary and fiscal policies. It is, however, important for us to stay on the planned path of policy,? said Mukherjee.