POLL - Annual inflation seen at 7.38 pct on April 19
MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's annual inflation rate is expected to hold up well above 7 percent in mid-April and stay close to its three-year peak hit last month, a Reuters poll of 12 analysts showed on Wednesday.
The wholesale price index is forecast to have risen 7.38 percent in the 12 months to April 19, higher than the previous week's 7.33 percent.
The data is due around noon (0630 GMT) on Friday.
In the last week of March, it had hit 7.41 percent, which was the highest since November, 2004.
On Tuesday, the central bank raised the proportion of deposits that banks must set aside by a quarter point to a seven-year high of 8.25 percent, effective May 24, saying it wanted to push inflation back to around 5.5 percent in 2008/09.
It followed a 50 basis points increase in the reserve ratio announced earlier this month to absorb inflation-stoking excess cash from the banking system.
The government, under pressure to contain prices ahead of state polls this year and national elections due by next year, has cut import duties on edible oil and curbed rice exports.
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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