Optimistic of the feel-good factor in the economy, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh on Tuesday said the inflation will come down to 4-4.5 per cent by the end of the current fiscal and average at 4.8 per cent during the 6-year term of the National Democratic Alliance government.
"The inflation will come down to 4-4.5 per cent in the fiscal end from the present 6.13 per cent," Singh told PTI when asked about the burgeoning price level.
He said the inflation rate would average at 4.8 per cent during the six-year stint of the NDA government.
Chief economic advisor Ashok Lahiri said he expected inflation to start coming down henceforth.
Commenting on the rise in general price level since the last few months, he said the country had to inherit the high inflation experience in the last year due to drought.
"The point-to-point (Wholesale Price Index) inflation will come down," he said, adding that it would also be aided by the fact that onion prices would stablise in the wake of good kharif crops.
He said since the import duty had been brought down, there would be greater competition, thus preventing the prices from going up.
Though he would not like to hazard a guess on a desirable inflation, Lahiri said economists feel it would be ideal to have an inflation of 2-4 per cent.
However, Reserve Bank of India had indicated that it would be difficult to maintain downward bias due to contagion effect of increasing prices of commodities globally and uncertainties in the international oil prices.