145;Prices will stabilise146;

Finance minister P Chidambaram today said that containing inflation, which has again risen to cross 6 per cent, is high on the government8217;s priority and expected it to come down to around 5.7 per cent next week. 8220;To contain inflation remains a very high priority8230; And my expectation is it will hover around 5.7 per cent next week,8221; Chidambaram told reporters here. However, moderation in inflation would depend on wheat arrival in the market, which has been delayed by 10 days.

Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had earlier said that wheat arrival had been delayed because farmers had shifted to a new strategy by manually separating straw from wheat, instead of using machines, to maximise their earnings. Straw prices have risen considerably due to demand for cattle feed.

Chidambaram also said the monsoon forecast was 8220;good8221;. The Meteorological Department has estimated that rainfall during the South-West Monsoon season this year would be 5 per cent less than average.