Mumbai India's annual inflation rate is expected to have fallen to its lowest in eight months in late November, following a decline in prices of manufactured products and lower fuel prices, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday.
The median forecast of 11 economists was for an 8.0 per cent rise in the wholesale price index in the 12 months to Nov 29, compared with 8.4 percent a week earlier.
This would be the slowest rise since mid-April when inflation was at 7.95 percent. Inflation had surged into double digits in early June after an increase in state-set retail fuel prices, and peaked at 12.91 percent on Aug. 2, the highest reading since annual numbers in the current data series became available in April 1995.
"We expect further decline in manufactured product prices as firms pass on lower input costs to consumers," said Sonal Varma, an economist with Nomura.
With inflation softening, the central bank last week cut its key interest rates by 1 percentage point to boost the sagging economy. The government also lowered retail prices of petrol by 10 percent and diesel by about 6 percent last week, following a slump in world crude oil prices from record highs in July.
The government has been releasing inflation data around noon on Thursdays recently, though it is officially scheduled to be unveiled around 6 p.m.
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.
