Good monsoon will bring down inflation: C Rangarajan

On a day when food inflation again breached the 9 per cent mark after a gap of two months, Prime Minister's top economic advisor C Rangarajan on Thursday said prices will decline by the end of October in the event of a good monsoon.

"If monsoon is favourable, food prices will come down over the next 2-3 months. Overall inflation rate will come down slowly by October-end", Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Chairman C Rangarajan told reporters in the national capital.

Rangarajan also exuded confidence that headline inflation would decline down to 6.5 per cent by March 2012 and that monsoon would lead to a decline in prices from the current level of 8.66 per cent (April).

"Once monsoon picture becomes clear, I expect decline in prices. We could see WPI (wholesale price inflation) at 6.5 per cent by March-end," Rangarajan said.