NEW DELHI: India’s wholesale prices fell for a 10th straight month in August, government data showed, pulled down by falling fuel costs and hiking prospects of an interest rate cut.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI), an inflation indicator that measures the biggest basket of goods, fell 4.95 percent last month compared with a year earlier, after slipping 4.05 percent in July, the commerce ministry said.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had estimated that the WPI would slump 4.4 percent. “Wholesale price inflation has now been in negative territory for 10 consecutive months, and is at its lowest since monthly prices started being tracked in 2005,” Capital Economics analyst Shilan Shah said. “This strengthens our view that interest rates will be cut at the RBI’s policy meeting later this month.”

The figures come hours before data on consumer prices is due to be released that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) uses to track interest rates. Retail inflation is forecast to ease, Bloomberg has predicted.