Planning commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on September 1 said that the inflation will come down in the next 3-4 months and touch single digit by the end of the current fiscal, while the economic growth would moderate from 9% witnessed during the last fiscal, reports agency sources.

Inflation slipped marginally to 12.40% for the week ended August 16 from 12.63% in the previous week due to dip in prices of vegetables, meat and cement, which the finance ministry described as `early signs of moderation` in prices.

The deputy chairman of the plan panel said that the Indian economy will slow down this fiscal compared with the last year but stressed that even a growth rate of 8% will be reasonable.

The domestic economic growth moderated to 7.9% in the first quarter of the current fiscal against 9.2% a year ago as rising borrowing costs impacted manufacturing and some other sectors.

However, moderation in the GDP growth was expected as the RBI hardened interest rates to control double-digit inflation.

Ahluwalia also projected a 3% growth rate for the agricultural sector this fiscal against a forecast of 2% by the prime minister`s economic advisory council (EAC).