Steel, crude prices to keep inflation in double digits

New Delhi, Jun 27 (UNI) Even as the menace of inflation refuses to die down, higher prices of steel and crude are expected to keep the price rise in the double digit zone.

Industry body Assocham today said it endorses the government's assessment that the double-digit inflation will stay for next many weeks as higher prices of steel have added a new dimension to it.

''The input costs for Indian Inc are constantly rising and will continue to remain so until the crude prices subside,'' Assocham President Sajjan Jindal said in a statement.

Till then, it is very difficult to predict that the inflation will subside but finally in next few weeks, the inflation would come down to nearly 7-8 per cent as government has taken sufficient fiscal and monetary measures to contain the inflation, he added.

The headline inflation rate for the week ended June 14 soared to 11.42 per cent as compared to 11.05 per cent for the previous week, according to data released by the government showed.

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