NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's wholesale prices fell at a faster-than-expected annual rate of 4.05 percent in July, their ninth straight decline and their lowest in at least a decade, mainly driven by weak food and fuel prices, government data showed.
The data, released on Friday, compared with a 2.8 percent year-on-year fall forecast by economists in a Reuters poll and a provisional 2.4 percent annual decline in June.
The wholesale food prices fell 1.16 percent year-on-year, while fuel prices fell 12.81 percent from a year ago.
India's retail inflation has cooled to a record low of 3.78 percent in July, adding pressure on the central bank chief Raghuram Rajan to cut interest rates after China devalued its currency this week.
The Reserve Bank of India kept rates unchanged at 7.25 percent this month even though the government and industry have been urging for lower cost of borrowing.
(Reporting by Manoj Kumar; Editing by Malini Menon)