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The office of the Meteorological Department on Friday said the summer monsoon would be normal this year, allaying fears over an event crucial to the economic fate of the country. Rainfall is likely to be 98 percent of the long-term average, said the weather office, whose forecast is closely watched by commodities and financial markets as well as the government, which is battling to rein in inflation against a backdrop of intense protests over rising food prices. "This year the monsoon would be normal, - 96 to 104 percent is the range of normal monsoon and the number which we are giving is 98 percent. The model error is 5 percent which is given based on the global climate parameters which we observed in the month of March," said Meteorological Office spokesperson B.P. Yadav. Yadav said the El Nino phenomenon, which disrupts normal weather patterns, was weakening. Last year, the government's forecast of a normal monsoon proved wrong and the country grappled instead with a baking drought caused by its driest monsoon in 37 years.

MeT forecasts normal monsoon rains in 2010