India inflation in double-digits up to Dec - official

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's headline inflation rate will stay in double digits until December, and soaring prices are expected to lower economic growth slightly this fiscal year, an adviser to the finance minister said on Friday.

"We are trying to cope with the impact of high oil prices and inflation," Shubhashis Gangopadhyay, adviser to Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, told reporters.

He said the steps already taken by the central bank would help tame inflation.

India's wholesale price index rose 11.89 percent in the 12 months to June 28, above the previous week's annual rise of 11.63 percent, government data showed on Friday.

The rate was also above a median forecast of 11.75 percent in a Reuters poll of analysts, and is the highest since annual numbers in the current series became available in April 1995.