Businesses' forecast of one-year-ahead headline retail inflation rose sharply to 5 percent in August from 4.56 percent in June, according to the latest Business Inflation Expectations Survey (BIES) of the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A). The survey, which measures inflation expectations of firms, also asks businesses to predict Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation one year down the line in alternate months to coincide with the meetings of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). The MPC, which began its three-day meeting on October 4 morning, will announce its interest rate decision at 10 am on October 6, where it is largely expected to maintain the policy repo rate at 6.5 percent for the fourth time in a row.