New Delhi, Jul 14 (IANS): India's annual inflation continued to be on an uptrend, though the pace of increase slowed down, as latest data released Thursday showed that inflation had nudged up to 9.44 percent in June, compared to 9.06 percent in the previous month.

The inflation figure for April was also revised upwards from the provisional 8.66 percent to 9.74 percent, according to data released by the commerce and industry ministry.

The figures showed that the manufactured products index, the largest constituent of the wholesale price index -- the barometer that indicates price behaviour -- inched up 0.1 percent, while the primary articles index rose by 2.8 percent.

The index of food articles too increased by 8.38 percent in June, while that for fuels rose by 12.85 percent.

Although the rise in inflation has slowed down, its continued persistence at high levels may invite another rate hike from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In its latest mid-quarter review of the monetary policy in June the RBI had hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points.