Inflation to decline to 7% by March: Mukherjee

With marginal decline in rate of price rise in January, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today expressed hope that the overall inflation will come down to 7% by March end.

"I am hoping that it (inflation) would be roughly around 7% (by March end). I hope so. But I cannot firmly commit it," Mukherjee told reporters here.

The overall inflation has shown a marginal decline to 8.23% in January, from 8.43% in the previous month.

The Finance Minister, however, said the inflation numbers in the coming months would depend on global developments and the way the commodity prices move in the global markets