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NEW DELHI - India's inflation will accelerate in July, the government's top statistician said, increasing pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates next week for a fourth time in five months.
"The inflation number in July will be higher than in June, in large measure because of what has happened to fuel prices," said T.C.A. Anant, without providing details.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government on June 25 allowed state-run refiners including Indian Oil Corp to raise prices of gasoline and diesel in a bid to cut its oil subsidy and narrow the budget deficit.
Governor Duvvuri Subbarao is due to announce the next monetary policy decision on July 27.
"The full impact of the fuel price revision on inflation numbers is yet to be seen," the New Delhi-based Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry said in a report on July 17.
Bloomberg News