Expected Annual inflation seen at 3.03 pc on Feb 21
Annual inflation rate is forecast to have fallen to a 6-½ year low near 3 per cent in late February compared with a rise of 3.36 per cent in the previous week.
If realised, this would be the lowest reading since Oct 19 2002, when inflation was at 3.01 per cent.
If inflation comes in slightly above forecast, it would be at its lowest since Nov. 2007, when inflation troughed at 3.07 per cent.
The data is due around noon (0630 GMT) on Thursday.
The central bank expects annual inflation to be below 3 per cent by the end of the fiscal year in March, with some analysts predicting it to be even lower. Inflation was last under 3 per cent in July 2002.
After peaking just below 13 per cent in August, inflation has fallen sharply as commodity prices plunged on a sharp decline in demand as the global economic and financial crisis deepens.
The wholesale price index is more closely watched than the consumer price index (CPI) because it includes more products and is also published weekly. The CPI is released monthly.
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