Inflation based on wholesale prices declined marginally to 7.18 per cent in December even though rates of food items like rice, wheat, pulses and potato showed a rise.The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was 7.24 per cent in November and 7.32 per cent in October. The third successive fall in inflation may prompt the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates in its policy review on January 29. Food inflation, as a category, rose to 11.16 per cent in December against 8.50 per cent in the previous month. Food articles have 14.3 per cent share in the WPI basket. For the fuel and power category, inflation was 9.38 percent compared to 10.02 per cent in November.The rate of price rise in manufactured products moderated to 5.04 per cent in December as against 5.41 percent in the previous month.Rising for the third consecutive month,retail inflation breached the double-digit mark at 10.56 per cent in December, driven by higher prices of vegetables, edible oil, pulses and cereal.