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NEW DELHI: India's annual rate of inflation rose to 11.63 per cent as the country continued to feel the impact of a hike in state-set fuel prices, government data released Friday showed.
The rate, for the week ended June 21, was against 11.42 per cent for the previous week and remains at a more than 13-year high, according to the Wholesale Price Index, the most closely watched price monitor.
The rise was marginally higher than expected by analysts, who had forecast the figure to be more or less flat.
"The inflation figure is above our forecast of 11.31 per cent," said Shuchita Mehta, senior economist with Standard Chartered Bank.
She said she expected India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, to raise the repo rate -- its key short term lending rate currently at 8.5 per cent -- by 50 basis points at its next meeting on July 29.
The RBI can also be expected to hike the Cash Reserve Ratio, or the amount of cash banks must hold in reserve, by 25 basis points.
"Inflation was above our forecast, though just marginally," said Siddhartha Sanyal of brokerage Edelweiss Securites.
The brokerage has forecast India's economic growth rate at 7.8 per cent for the year to March 2009.
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 percent.
The benchmark 30 share Sensex index was up 1.38 per cent or 180.69 points at 13,274.8 on Friday, largely ignoring the inflation data.
- AFP/jk
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