Rangarajan says monetary policy to remain tight

Monetary policy will continue to be tight, C Rangarajan, the top economic adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said on Friday.

The RBI has raised interest rates eight times in the last 12 months as it tries to curb high inflation.

The Reserve Bank of India last week raised the repo rate , its main lending rate, by 25 basis points to 6.75%, and raised the reverse repo rate , or borrowing rate, to 5.75%.

Wholesale price inflation , the most widely watched gauge of prices in India, unexpectedly quickened to 8.31% in February.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee expects it to be at around 7% in March, while the central bank's target is 8%.