Pranab Mukherjee says inflation still high

Reuters: Inflation in India is still “very high and unacceptable,” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters on Saturday.

Headline inflation for August rose to 9.78 percent, its highest level in more than a year, data showed on Wednesday.

Mukherjee also said he expects lending to farmers to be in excess of 5 trillion rupees in the 2011/12 fiscal year.

The Reserve Bank of India, on Friday, lifted its key lending rate, called the repo rate, by 25 basis points to 8.25 percent, in line with expectations, as it persisted its fight with inflation.