Inflation, which is hovering over 7 per cent at present, is expected to fall to six per cent in the next four to six weeks, a survey said. Assocham Business Barometer survey of 240 CEOs and CFOs across various sectors revealed the industry outlook on prices is optimistic as majority believed that inflation would subside and slip to six per cent in the next four to six weeks. 

The mounting foodgrain prices would slip in next one or two months due to the normal monsoon announced by the weather department and the farm production might rise four per cent in fiscal 2008, Assocham’s survey on `Inflation Outlook’ said.

The strong measures taken by the government and the industry’s cooperation should help to ease the pressure on prices. The speculative money driving inflation in commodities is also expected to exit the market soon, Assocham President Venugopal Dhoot said. 

The speculative money put in the commodity markets world-over, played a significant role in raising the prices of farm as well as metal commodities, the survey said.

About 74 per cent respondents stated that the speculative money is expected to exit from the markets, which would ease the price situation. 

The government’s intention of not importing wheat this year would also help in discouraging the speculative interest and thus moderating the price pressure at the international commodity markets, it added.

Foodgrain production in 2007-08 is estimated to have touched a record of 227.32 million tons with increased output of rice, wheat, coarse grains, pulses, cotton, oilseeds compared with the previous year, it said.