Planning Commission on Monday said 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 per cent witnessed during the last fiscal.

"One week's change is not important. What I am saying is that over the next 3 or 4 months it (inflation) will definitely come down," Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said, adding that by the end of March 2009, the country will have a single-digit inflation.

Inflation slipped to 12.40 per cent for the week ended August 16 from 12.63 per cent 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 per cent will be reasonable.

"I have been consistently saying anything around 8 per cent will be reasonable and a very good performance for the economy," Ahluwalia said.

The domestic economic growth moderated to 7.9 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal against 9.2 per cent a year ago as rising borrowing costs impacted manufacturing and some other sectors. Economy grew by 9 per cent during 2007-08.

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

Ahluwalia also projected a 3 per cent growth rate for the agricultural sector this fiscal against a forecast of 2 per cent by the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (EAC).