<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[<p>Welcoming the Reserve Bank's decision to hike key rates by a hefty 50 basis points, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said it will help bring down inflation to a comfortable level of 6-7 per cent by year-end.<br><br>"The Reserve Bank of India has sought to give a strong signal to further moderate inflation and check inflationary expectations," Mukherjee said.<br><br>Inflation has remained stubbornly close to double-digit levels during the first quarter of the current fiscal.<br><br>Mukherjee said the RBI rate hike was necessary to bring down inflation to an acceptable level at the earliest.<br><br>Overall wholesale price-based inflation stood at 9.44 per cent in June. To tame the inflation monster, the RBI today hiked key policy rates by 50 basis points.<br><br>"With this policy adjustment, we will be able to get back to a more comfortable inflation situation that takes us to the year-end inflation level of 6 to 7 per cent," Mukherjee added.<br><br>The RBI has hiked its policy rates 11 times since March, 2010, to curb inflation. However, the problem persists.<br><br>Mukherjee said although food inflation has moderated in recent months, pressure in manufactured items has hardened.<br><br>While coming out with its first quarterly policy review for the 2011-12 financial year, the RBI admitted that there has been a moderation in growth, but maintained its previous estimate of 8 per cent GDP growth for the current fiscal.<br><br>Mukherjee said, "The overall GDP growth for 2011-12 so far is in line with the momentum attained in 2010-11."<br><br>There have been concerns that the country's economic growth could see some moderation on the back of a deceleration in factory output growth in April-May.<br><br>Industrial output growth in April-May this year averaged 5.7 per cent, compared to 10.8 per cent in the same period last year.<br><br>(PTI)</p>