The Finance Ministry on Friday said that inflation, which entered the negative zone after about 30 years, will turn positive by the end of the year.

"Inflation ... is very likely to turn positive before the end of the year and be positive for the year as a whole (average for 2009-10)," the ministry said in statement.

Inflation, which entered negative territory for the week ended June 6, declining to minus 1.61 percent, recorded a similar fall three decades back.

"The economy last recorded negative inflation over 30 years back in 1978-79," the Finance Ministry said.

Negative inflation implies that the average wholesale price level was lower during the week ended June 6, 2009, than it was in the corresponding week a year ago.

"The decline in the inflation rate this week is due primarily to decline in the inflation rate of fuel and power, which in turn declined primarily because of the base effect," the ministry said.

The overall prices of fuel and power were 12.7 percent lower during the week than the corresponding period a year ago.

However, prices rise in respect of the following items: cereals, pulses, eggs, meat and fish, sugar, khandsari and gur, common salt, and tea and coffee processing.