Pranab says RBI action to help ease inflation

India's inflation will ease following the tough measures taken by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the finance minister said on Wednesday.

Pranab Mukherjee also said he does not believe the central bank's rate hike cycle is nearing its peak.

The RBI on Tuesday stunned investors by raising interest rates 50 basis points and indicated it would continue with its anti-inflationary stance despite slowing growth in Asia's third-largest economy and uncertain global demand.

A Reuters snap poll after the move found six of 11 economists expect the repo rate, the central bank's key lending rate, to go up to 8.50%, or 50 basis points higher than in a poll last week.

The repo rate is now at 8%.

Although the Reserve Bank of India has raised its main lending rate by 325 basis points since March 2010, headline inflation, at 9.44%  in June, remains way above its comfort zone of 4-4.5%.