Inflation slows to 7.45% in October

"Clearly, a lot of these pressures are still evidently supply-side driven. So the fiscal consolidation has to be more meaningful to allow a more sustainable downtrend in inflation trajectory."

Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council chairman C Rangarajan last month said he expected inflation to drop to 7% by the end of this fiscal.

The latest data showed manufactured items, which have a 65% weightage in the inflation basket, went up 5.95% in October, compared with 6.26% in the previous month.

Chemicals and chemical products price index inched up 6.58% in October, compared with 7.47% in the previous month. Similarly, basic metal alloys and metal products prices went up 6.45% last month from 7.46% in September. However, manufactured food item inflation inched up to 9.82% from 9.76% a month before, thanks to an 18.71% rise in sugar rates.

Fuel and power inflation slowed to 11.71% in October from 11.88% in the previous month.

Inflation in food articles dropped to 6.62% in October from 7.86% the previous month, thanks a drop in prices of some vegetables . However, a 49.13% rise in prices of potato, 20% in pulses, 19.78% in wheat, 14.35% in cereals and 13.28% in egg, meat and fish prevented a sharper slowdown in the pace of food inflation.