The wholesale price declined marginally from 6.12 per cent last week to 5.95 per cent in the 12 months to 13 January. The previous week's 6.12 per cent was the highest in two year. The marginal decline is attributed to a fall in some food prices.

Finance minister P Chidambaram had said the government was committed to curbing the spurt in inflation and this week the government announced import duty cuts on cement, steel, copper, aluminium, capital goods for infrastructure projects that will cost the exchequer Rs3,000 crore on Tuesday, followed by duty cuts on some edible oils to cool inflationary expectations.

The Reserve Bank of India's next quarterly monetary policy review is due on 31 January.

Last year, the bank had raised the repo rate four times to 7.25 per cent in an attempt to curb credit growth and rising prices, and last month it also increased the cash reserve ratio.