Indian inflation eases

Published July 25, 2008

NEW DELHI, July 24: India’s annual inflation rate has eased back to 11.89 per cent, defying expectations it would cross the 12 per cent mark, according to the latest government data released on Thursday.

The figure for the week ended July 12 was down marginally from the 11.91 per cent a week earlier, according to the Wholesale Price Index, India’s most closely watched cost-of-living monitor.

Analysts had expected the rate would jump to just over 12 per cent.

The rate is still seen as too high -- meaning further monetary tightening by the Reserve bank of India, which meets next week, cannot be ruled out.

“We expect the RBI to continue with its bias of monetary tightening as the current level of inflation is far too high compared to its comfort zone, and has not shown any definite sign of peaking,” said Siddhartha Sanyal, economist with brokerage Edelweiss Securities.

Price rises in India have overshadowed better-than-expected growth of 9.0 per cent in the past fiscal year.Economists expect growth in Asia’s third-largest economy to slow this year on higher borrowing costs and tough global financial conditions. The prime minister has projected growth of more than eight per cent.—AFP

Opinion

Editorial

Solidarity with Palestine
Updated 29 Nov, 2024

Solidarity with Palestine

The wretched of the earth see in the Palestinian struggle against Israel a mirror of themselves.
Little relief for public
29 Nov, 2024

Little relief for public

INFLATION, the rate of increase in the prices of goods and services over a given period of time, has receded...
Right to education
29 Nov, 2024

Right to education

IT is troubling to learn that over 16,500 students of the University of Karachi (KU) have defaulted on fee payments...
A hasty retreat
Updated 28 Nov, 2024

A hasty retreat

Govt should not extend its campaign of violence against PTI and its leaders, thinking it now has the upper hand. Enough is enough.
Lebanon truce
28 Nov, 2024

Lebanon truce

WILL it hold? That is the question many in the Middle East and beyond will be asking after a 60-day ceasefire ...
MDR anomaly removed
28 Nov, 2024

MDR anomaly removed

THE State Bank’s decision to remove its minimum deposit rate requirement for conventional banks on deposits from...