Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Sunday said in Bengaluru that the headline inflation in the country remained "perilously close" to double digits, but would moderate to six percent to seven percent by March, if the present declining trend continues, The PTI reported.

Speaking after meeting with the Chief Ministers of Southern States and the CEOs of public sector banks based in South, at a press conference he said, "So far as inflation is concerned, yes, I do agree headline inflation is still high, perilously close to double-digit inflation. I do hope if this trend continues, then the year-end inflation by March will be 6-7 percent."

However, he highlighted that though overall inflation is high in the manufacturing sector, fuel and certain other commodities, food inflation has come down.

Food inflation fell sharply to a four-year low of 4.35 percent in the week ended December 3 from 6.6 percent in the previous week, while headline inflation moderated to 9.1 percent in November from 9.7 percent in the previous month.

RTTNews