Inflation will turn negative next fiscal: FinMin

Inflation is expected to remain in a range of two per cent above and below the zero level over the next fiscal, Chief Economic Adviser to the Finance Ministry Arvind Virmani said today.

"If one looks over a year ... March end to next year ... I would expect a zero, plus-minus 2 per cent, inflation," Virmani said at a CII convention here.

The rate of price rise, as measured by the wholesale price index, has fallen to 0.27 per cent, its lowest level in more than three decades.

Economists have warned that inflation could soon fall below the zero level.

Ruling out any possibility of sustained deflation in the economy, Virmani, however, said that the consumer price deflator used for GDP is more indicative of inflation and that is not expected to be anywhere near zero.

"We don't have the aggregate CPI (consumer price index). We pay attention to the WPI (wholesale price index). Globally they look at the CPI. To conclude on the WPI basis is not good," he said.